


The Echo Remains, But The Song Is Not The Same

by Yana



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Different Teams, F/M, In This House We Respect The Characters, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Build, Slow Burn, naruto rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:13:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 110,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23750623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yana/pseuds/Yana
Summary: One simple decision. One simple change in the known timeline to make a difference. While their fates and the echo of the past is the same, their paths and their songs diverge from the original. They have a chance to be something else, something they never had the opportunity to be.Or: The Hokage boldly decides to not care about traditions, and breaks up this generation’s Ino-Shika-Chou formation. Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru – the hyperactive loud-mouth, the arrogant jerk, and the lazy ass – in the same team should be a disaster. But is it really?This is a story exploring the possibilities of different team dynamics from the canon, and giving characters a chance to be more than what they were in the original.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hyuuga Hinata, Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito, Nara Shikamaru & Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru & Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 348
Kudos: 1006





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Thank you for clicking and giving a chance to me and the fic! I didn’t want to publish any chapters until I get to the Shippuuden era, but this is my almost fifth week sitting at home (because you can’t do your daycare job in home office :’D), wandering aimlessly on the internet, struggling with thoughts about the future, and everything, so I just needed something to keep me focused, even if just a little. I’m currently in the middle of the Land of Waves Arc, which is chapter 11, and I don’t want to catch up to myself so here’s the plan: I will publish a new chapter every second week. So the chapter I’m working on will be published in September. Hopefully the world will be a better place by then with a lot of social closeness, let’s stay positive. And hopefully I won’t catch up to myself in September :D
> 
> Before the first chapter, I need to tell a few things about the story:
> 
> 1\. This will be a mainly ShikaNaru fic, though it will only be mentioned for the first time right before the time skip. (Until that point I’m slowly building it up and every other relationship. Because you can’t just decide right before the last chapter that this and that character will be the endgame without an actual foundation, right? RiIIiiIiGht?) If it’s bothering you and you don’t want to read about it, I hope you’ll soon find the fic you were looking for! Don’t force yourself to read anything about a ship you don’t like! It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, I’m speaking from experience. But if you’re still interested and want to give it a shot, then kudos for your determination! :) And if you ship ShikaNaru and already read all the sadly little number of fics you can find in any languages (and read them with the help of Google Translate with very funny grammar results), then I hope you’ll like this one!
> 
> 2\. There will be SasuSaku. I don’t ship them. At all. (Honestly, the best thing that came out of canon with this ship is Sarada. And Sarada is one of the very few aspects of Boruto that’s actually good.) I’m a NaruSaku shipper, and originally I wanted to end this fic with ShikaNaruSaku, but then I thought ‘Hey, let’s make a challenge out of it! Can I write a more realistic SasuSaku than it was in canon or not?’. This means I’ll try to flash out Sasuke’s character more, make him more relatable and understandable, and the two’s relationship more believable. Also Sakura’s not gonna have a character development only to forget about it a few chapters later. (And I’m very sorry I didn’t tag this ship! I will after a few chapters, I promise, but I know this ship can be a real turn off when we think about its canon representation. I will do my best with these two!)
> 
> 3\. There will be other ships too. As far as I can tell, the only ship that stays the same as in the canon is SasuSaku (apart from the already existing ones, like Asuma and Kurenai). There will be rare pairs and there will be decently well-known pairs too. And I’m not gonna spoil those in the tags. Well, at least until they appear. If you’re reading it somewhere in the future, than this one’s not so relevant. There are some ships I’m actually excited to write about. I have a few future scenes already written and… I’m just excited, okay? :D
> 
> 4\. There will be dark things in here. Because this is a not kid friendly environment for a bunch of twelve year olds. PTSD, phobias, depression, nightmares, violence, the horrors of war, etc. Characters will have realistic fears and doubts. Even Naruto (especially Naruto!). I’m making him smarter too. Because if you’re an orphan living on your own in a village where most of the people hate you, you have to be street smart. Speaking of Naruto, if you pay attention to his POV scenes compared to the others of his age, you will see some differences.
> 
> 5\. And the most important thing: I’d try to give each and every character the respect they deserve. Some of the characters never had the chance to be who they deserved to become in canon (*coughsakuracoughtentencoughmostofthefemalecharacterscoughcoughandshinocough*), so I’m here to give them that chance, at least in this fic. Please, feel free to point out if something doesn’t feel right!
> 
> And now after this too long author’s note, let’s get started!

Hiruzen drew a long breath through his pipe and held it in for a long moment before letting it out slowly. He had received the list of the new teams made by the Academy teachers, and he also had a list of his own, not in a written form like this one, but a list none the less. Iruka knelt a few meters away from him, going through folders as he explained his decision regarding the students’ performance at school. His opinion and the Hokage’s opinion were different in some regards, but Hiruzen had to give credit where credit was due. Iruka spent most of his time with these kids, and apart from a few, the Hokage had no idea who the students truly were.

For him, they were just a few data on a paper. Some of them wouldn’t be accepted by their assigned jounin and stay genin until they’d have an other chance - if they’d get one, - the better half of the remaining in the next five or so years would become a chuunin, and just the best of them could ever dream about becoming a jounin. The jounin the Hokage would know. And some of the chuunin who would work around the office. But the rest? Just names on a paper. Be it a time of peace or years of bloody war, he wouldn’t know a large part of them, only the few who’d accomplish something extraordinary. That was how it had worked in the past, and how it would always work in the future.

“Too bad we have to keep this formation” Iruka said all of a sudden with a small voice, so different from his previous dutiful tone that it woke the Hokage from his thoughts and he raised a brow at the teacher in surprise.

“What was that?” he questioned.

Poor Iruka jumped in his seat, eyes wide and face pale, most likely his words weren’t meant to be heard.

“I just—I…” His voice trailed off.

“It’s okay, Iruka” the Hokage reassured him. He was an understanding Hokage after all, maybe a little too much. Danzo had accused him in the past that he had a too soft heart to be the leader of a military base of the size of a village. “You can say it.”

Iruka played with a fold on his pants that formed around his knee before he answered.

“I know this formation is a tradition and it can be a strong team when it works as a well oiled machine, but—I don’t believe these three can pull it off right now. Not when they are this different. Maybe later when they get more experience, but not now.”

Hiruzen brushed down his beard. Yes, this formation was a tradition, dating back before Konoha’s foundation. Dismissing this tradition would anger three whole clans of powerful shinobi. It was a risk he could not take.

Or could he?

There was a stubborn nudge in the back of his mind, pushing him to at least listen to what Iruka wanted to say, maybe he would have a few good arguments that could make him think it through again, to look at it from an other perspective.

The Hokage inhaled from his pipe again before he spoke.

“What are you proposing then?” he said as he let out the smoke.

Iruka, surprised that his opinion wasn’t dismissed right away, quickly took two papers from the pile, stood up and handed it to the Hokage. Hiruzen looked at the photos attached to the papers, then glanced up at Iruka with a raised brow.

“Let me explain.”

And he explained.

And Hiruzen listened.

*****

He woke from an other one.

And it was annoying since this was about to be the best day of his life. He'd finally start his journey to become a ninja, become someone the whole village could look up to, so he would never see the fear and hate in those eyes.

But no. Ever since that night Mizuki tried to kill him, he had this returning nightmare of himself becoming the very thing his old teacher had said he was. A monster. Almost every night he saw himself destroying everything in the village, he saw the blood, he heard the screams, and he felt the red feathers touching his cheeks.

Naruto shivered as he pushed the memory of his nightmare to the back of his mind. He didn’t want to think about it right now. This day was supposed to be the best day of his life. So he would be as happy as he could be, no matter what.

He ignored the tightness in his belly.

He had a poor breakfast as usual, a simple cup ramen with a glass of water. He let out a sigh as he thought about the shopping tour he’d have to make in the next few days. Maybe he could try asking Iruka to buy him a bowl of ramen. But he knew he couldn’t wait with it for much longer. The milk in the fridge was already spoiled. He poured it into the sink with a heavy heart, grimacing at the sight and smell of the water-like thing and the creamy stuff that left the box. He hated throwing out food, but he couldn’t risk getting sick from now on.

A ninja couldn’t get sick and take a few days off. They had to be in the best shape to go on missions any time they were needed. And he couldn’t show any weakness. He needed everyone to see how strong and good a ninja he could become. To show them that Iruka hadn't given him his forehead protector for nothing. He hadn’t gone through all those things in the past to be stopped by spoiled food. He knew he had to eat better food, but most of the shop owners and the merchants at the market hated him. And he had to eat anything he could get. And if it meant instant cup ramen from the worst shop of Konoha ever, then instant cup ramen it was.

He didn’t have to wait more to become a real ninja. A real ninja got money for the missions they finished, he had asked that from the white masked ninja he had met when he was five. They met only once but Naruto could tell he was a nice guy. He sometimes wondered where he was now.

Naruto threw out the empty carton, had a quick meal and got ready. After getting dressed he carefully put on his forehead protector that Iruka had given him a few days ago and looked at his reflection. He hadn’t had it on since the day he got it and this was the first time he’d seen it on himself. He didn’t look that different from the usual, his goggles pushed up his hair the same way, but still… He couldn’t stop looking at the leaf on the metal with wonder.

A grin grew on his face as he turned around and ran out of his apartment, making sure that the door was locked behind him. He didn’t care about the sneers and the whispers that followed him on his way to the Academy. He was too happy to be bothered by them. Not even his nightmare could change his mood now.

He’d be a ninja! The best of them all!

*****

A cloud of nervousness loomed above them in the classroom as they waited for their sensei to finally arrive. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a cloud he could watch, and the sky was annoyingly clear that day. Shikamaru sighed when he had to accept that instead of his favorite water vapor formations, he had to observe his classmates.

The girls, as always, gathered in a giant group of horribleness, and tried to - emphasis on ‘tried’ - stare at Sasuke without being noticed. Shikamaru heard Sasuke huff as he turned to stare out the window.

Every girl wanted to be in the same team as the Uchiha, and Shikamaru couldn’t understand why. Not that he needed their attention instead, no. He didn’t want annoying squeals to follow him everywhere he went.

What he never understood was the reason behind their obsession. Sasuke was a jerk. To everyone. Including the same girls who kissed the ground he graced to walk on.

But he wasn’t a girl. He would never understand how their minds worked. Because in his opinion other guys deserved their attention more than a jerk like Sasuke. Chouji, for example. He was kind and respectful. And he was sure there were others too. But no. The girls were crazy for a guy who was mean to them. Go figure.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Why was he wasting his energy to think about that? It wasn’t like Sasuke would be in the same team as him, so it wouldn’t be his problem. His team would be the 16th generation of Ino-Shika-Chou, that was a fact. So he had no idea why Ino was still hoping to be in any other team. That wouldn’t happen.

A blond head drew his attention back to reality. Shikamaru frowned as the owner of it took a seat in the row below his.

“Naruto?” he asked, honestly surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Naruto turned to grin up at him. He had a forehead protector on his head.

“I passed!” he announced proudly, pointing at the proof with his thumb.

The line between Shikamaru’s brows deepened.

“How?”

The grin on Naruto’s face widened.

“I learnt a technique that night and it was so awesome Iruka-sensei let me pass!”

Shikamaru would’ve asked more, but for one, Iruka chose that moment to arrive and everyone settled down. And for two, he noticed how Naruto’s fingers curled up hearing that question, and how tight his cheeks became as his grin grew. Something must have happened to him that night.

He remembered the way Naruto had been sitting on the swing. He’d wanted to go and tell him something, he hadn’t really had an idea what, but a family had passed in front of him, and in the next moment Naruto hadn’t been there. Today was the first time he saw him since that day.

But now that he was thinking about it… His father had left in a hurry after a chuunin had appeared at their door. He’d returned after dawn the next morning and both he and his mother had an unusual tension in themselves. When Shikamaru had gone to have some breakfast, he had heard the last few hushed words of his father mentioning something about one of their teachers, Mizuki. Later that day, he had seen Iruka in bandages, and he still had a few bruises. And he also hadn’t seen Mizuki since the graduation exam.

He had no idea if these things were related or not, but it was suspicious that these things had happened right after their graduation.

Shikamaru mentally shrugged. It was none of his business, related or not. The village was still standing, and as long as his father still had time to be lazy there was nothing to worry about.

Iruka made a speech about how important today was and their future in a three-men team under a jounin and so on. Shikamaru zoned out a little, only paying attention when Iruka started telling them the team assignments. The fact that he already knew which team he would be in didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about the others. That, and he wanted to see Ino’s face when she found out she wouldn’t be with her precious Sasuke.

“Team Seven!” Iruka said. “Uzumaki Naruto!”

Shikamaru glanced at the blond boy. So he really did make it. Iruka wouldn’t say his name unless he passed the exam. He was still curious about the technique that convinced Iruka to change his mind.

“Uchiha Sasuke!”

Naruto groaned out loud. Shikamaru could relate. He wouldn’t want to be in the same team with an arrogant guy like—

“And Nara Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru’s jaw dropped.

_What the actual hell?_

He felt the glare of Ino next to him and Sakura’s from the lower row and from every other girl in the room. What the hell was going on? Him in the same team as Naruto and Sasuke? What were Iruka and the other teachers and even the Hokage thinking? What about the tradition between the Yamanaka, the Akimichi and the Nara clan?

He was about to raise his hand and point that out to Iruka, but then he noticed Naruto looking at him. And his eyes were shining, and it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. He looked stunned and… happy. Shikamaru quickly shut his mouth and put down his hand.

What the hell…

“Team Eight! Hyuga Hinata! Haruno Sakura! Akimichi Chouji!”

Sakura was glaring at him up until now, but that glare turned into shock as she looked at the very quite Hinata up in the corner and the munching Chouji in the front row.

“It’s too bad, Sakura-chan!” Shikamaru heard Naruto telling her. “I thought we would be in the same team.”

The girl was too stunned to say anything, not even to Ino’s teasing.

“Team Ten! Yamanaka Ino! Inuzuka Kiba! Aburame Shino!”

Ino let out a silent shriek to his right.

“The dog guy and the bug guy!?” She buried her face in her palms. “Why?!”

These team assignments… They made no sense… Starting with the Ino-Shika-Chou formation, which was a tradition since generations, and now they broke it up. Did the three clan heads know about this? Why had the Hokage been thinking? Not that being in the same team as Naruto was that bad or anything, but—

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruto jumped up from his seat and pointed at Sasuke. “Why do I have to be in the same team as him!?”

Yes, exactly what Shikamaru was thinking about.

“Why do I have to be in the same team as you?” Sasuke retorted.

Shikamaru let out a long sigh. Great. Just great. If this would go on for a long time he’d have to look forward to an eternal headache.

“Because his marks are the best and yours are the worst, that’s why!” Iruka yelled back, out of patience. He quickly composed himself and took a deep breath. “You’ll meet your jounin this afternoon. Until then, free time!”

Everyone sat there in silence for a while after Iruka left the room, not really knowing what to do. Should they stay? Or sit with their teammates? Or something?

As for Shikamaru, he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. Iruka’s logic was… flawed. Yes, Naruto was the dead last, but Ino had better grades than Sasuke. If Iruka really had the intention of putting the worst and the best student in the same team, then Naruto and Ino would be teammates now. Then there was him too. Yes, he had the brains, but he was too lazy to use it. His taijutsu was the worst in this class, and he had put the least effort into the exam, so he would barely pass. And he slept through most of the classes. The three of them would be a disaster together. To repeat himself: What was the Hokage thinking?

“Sakura-san?”

Shikamaru turned his head. Of all people, Hinata was the first to do anything. She stood next to the desk where Sakura sat and looked at a box in her hands shyly. She glanced a few times at Naruto, but her eyes quickly dropped.

“I was thinking… If we could go and… eat something?”

Sakura stared at the girl for a while, then stood up.

“Of—of course!” She pushed the protesting Naruto away as she walked to the other girl’s side. “Let’s get Chouji too.”

The three soon left the room, and this encouraged the others to do the same. Reluctantly Ino joined Kiba and Shino while she muttered something under her nose, and Shikamaru couldn’t do anything else but to stand up as well.

“Hey, let’s get outside” he proposed. “The air’s getting stale in here.”

Naruto jumped up with a grin after hearing the idea, but Sasuke just stood up and walked away, not waiting for them as he left the room.

“What’s up with him?” Naruto asked, arms crossed.

“Don’t care. Let’s go.”

Shikamaru walked down the stairs and Naruto quickly caught up to him.

“Hey, hey, Shikamaru!”

“What?” He turned with an annoyed frown.

Naruto’s grin was blinding.

“Too bad Sakura-chan’s not in my team, but I’m really happy that you are.”

Shikamaru’s lips parted and the frown disappeared from his face.

“Uhm… Thanks?”

Naruto grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door.

“Let’s go eat something! I’m starving! Do you have some money? I think I left my purse at home. I think I kicked it under my bed when I was practicing this awesome new jutsu I learnt!”

Shikamaru couldn’t do anything but let Naruto do whatever he wanted. He closed his eyes for a moment and prayed for his sanity.

*****

She was sad to find out she was not in the same team as Sasuke. But she didn’t know how to feel about her current team. Hinata was an okay girl, she had no problem with her. She was a little shy and had a soft voice, but nothing bad. Chouji… he ate a lot and hung out with Shikamaru most of the time. Apart from those she didn’t really know him. That was about to change now, it seemed.

They were sitting on a stone bench right outside of the Academy grounds. Hinata was in the middle, opening a neatly wrapped package. It turned out to be a box, filled with onigiri.

“Here.” She lifted the box, smiling shyly. “I hope you’ll like it.”

Chouji was the first to take one. He thanked it politely and took a bite. After munching on it for a while with a comically serious face, his expression quickly changed to one with glee.

“This is the most delicious homemade onigiri I’ve ever eaten!” he yelled, but quickly put a hand on his mouth and continued with a low voice. “Please, don’t tell my mother I said that.”

Hinata chuckled and Sakura couldn’t help, but smile at that. At first glance this team seemed… nice. She was used to Ino’s teasing and Naruto’s over the top personality, and now teamed up with two of the calmest genin in her class… This was so new, Sakura didn’t really know how to act around them.

“Sakura-san?”

She looked up. Hinata was watching her, box held out towards her.

“Do you want some?”

Sakura hesitated for a moment before she took one.

“Thank you” she said and took a bite.

Chouji was right. This was the best homemade onigiri she’d ever eaten.

“This is really good!” she told Hinata, who blushed a little.

“It’s nothing special” Hinata muttered as she started eating too. “I just added the ingredients I felt would taste good.”

Sakura and Chouji both stopped eating at the same time and glanced down at the box.

“You mean to tell me” Sakura started, “that you made all of these?”

Hinata showed them a confused frown.

“Yes?” She started rubbing the side of the box with her fingers. “I just… I thought I’d make something for my new teammates. I guessed after all the nervous waiting they would be hungry. I’m sorry if—”

“No, no, no!” Sakura quickly cut in. “It’s not that! I was just surprised you can make something so delicious on your own. My mother tried to teach me, but my cooking skills stop at a simple sandwich.”

“My mom’s a great cook” Chouji said, “but this is better than hers.” He quickly looked around. “Please, don’t tell her.”

Hinata watched the box in her lap with wide eyes, face blank. Something crossed her pale gaze, but it was gone before Sakura could put a name to it. Hinata looked up at them with a small smile like her previous expression was never on her face.

“I’m glad you like it. I’ll do my best next time too.”

Sakura felt a thug in her chest. There was something sad about Hinata, like a cloud of gloom followed her everywhere she went and she tried to ignore it as much as she could, but the weight of it was clearly seen on her shoulders.

Sakura smiled back at Hinata and put an arm around her.

“Let’s do it together some time!”

Hinata blinked in surprise.

“Together?”

“Yeah! We’re a team now. And as a team we should spend a lot of time together. Working on our team work and such. And what’s a better way to start that, than making food together. Right, Chouji?”

Chouji was nodding eagerly.

“The best way” he agreed.

Hinata nodded hesitantly but the smile returned on her face.

Sakura squeezed the other girl’s shoulder. At first glance this team wasn’t that bad.

*****

“Listen up you two!” Ino started, looking at the boys with eyes that demanded no resistance. “Now that we’re in the same team, you two do whatever I say!”

Ino was always temperamental, egoistic, surrounded by followers. Anyone who disobeyed her was the target of her fury. She was so used to being treated like a princess, always getting what she wanted, that she wasn’t used to opposition.

A toothy grin grew on his face.

Well, that was about to change.

“No way in hell” Kiba exclaimed. He folded his fingers behind his head and lay down in the grass. The weather was nice and clear. In the light breeze he could smell the flowers blooming in the windows.

Akamaru barked in agreement and lay down on Kiba’s stomach. Kiba smiled at that. Of course Akamaru would agree with him. He was always right, after all.

Ino huffed in anger.

“How dare you!” She stomped where he was laying and glared down at him. “You can’t just say no to me!”

A dramatic sigh left Kiba’s lips as he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at Ino like she was the most boring thing in the world.

“Watch me. No.”

Just the look he gave her made Ino’s hair puff up, but his words were the icing on the cake. A vein started pulsating across the middle of her forehead and her nostrils flared with rage.

“You little…” She pulled up her leg, probably planning to step on his chest, and Kiba was prepared to roll out of the way but—

“I don’t think it’s wise to start our first day as a team by trying to kill each other.”

Kiba turned his head and Ino stopped, leg still pulled up high. Shino stood a few meters away from them, leaning against a tree. Why he still wore his shades in the shadow of the foliage, he had no idea. Shino was always a weird guy. He stayed silent most of the time and when he talked he always said something weird.

“Like she could kill me with her foot” Kiba said smugly and was about to turn back to Ino with a grin when his ear was pulled upwards. A painful yelp left his mouth, and Akamaru started barking after he jumped off his stomach.

“Like I would stain my feet with your blood, you jerk!” she yelled into his ear when he was pulled up on his feet.

“You crazy woman!” Kiba yelled back and hit Ino’s hand away. “Who do you think you are?!”

“And who do you think you are, you stinky bastard!”

In a blink of an eye, Kiba felt the expression melting off of his face. He felt pure hot rage inside him and, girl or not, he had never wanted to punch anyone more in his whole life.

“I think” Shino said, suddenly stepping between the two who jumped away in surprise, “you two should focus more on working out your disagreements. Why? Because the three of us must work together if we want to become ninjas.”

Kiba spit on the ground and turned his back to the two.

“Yeah? Well, I want to become a ninja. But what about Miss Princess there? Is she really ready to sacrifice her beauty sleep and break a few nails?”

He could hear Ino grinding her teeth.

“You know what, Inuzuka? I don’t care what you think of me. I’ll show you that I’m not the top student of the class for nothing.”

Kiba huffed.

“Top student? Then tell Iruka that he put you in the wrong team and should switch you with Sasuke.” He chuckled when Akamaru jumped up his back and took his usual place on top of Kiba’s head. “And to be honest, this team would be better with Sasuke. He’s a jerk, but at least he’s not a control freak.”

He looked back with a mocking grin only for Ino to walk past him as she bumped into his shoulder. That almost made Akamaru lose his balance, so Kiba had to put his hands on him.

“Watch it!”

But Ino didn’t seem to hear him. Or she pretended not to hear him. What a bitch…

“I don’t think you know how to talk to girls” Shino commented.

“Like you know!” he shot back.

Shino shrugged and went after Ino. And Kiba couldn’t do anything, but follow them with a huff.

“This gonna be a pain in the ass, right Akamaru?”

Akamaru barked in agreement. Kiba smiled. At least someone was on his side.

*****

The hyperactive idiot and the lazy shit.

Sasuke sighed and took a bit from his food. Not the ideal team he imagined for himself. He admitted it could’ve been worse, like Ino or any other girl. But it could’ve been better. If he could choose, he would’ve been with Shino and Hinata. Both of them were silent types and only talked when they had something to tell. And Hinata was the only girl who didn’t shriek at the sight of him. That could’ve been a team he could work with.

But no. Naruto and Shikamaru.

Naruto was loud and never stopped moving. He was annoying as hell. And Shikamaru was lazy and complained a lot. Both of them tended to skip classes or sleep through them. Why would anyone think that he could work together with these two? This team was destined to be a disaster, he wouldn’t give it a month before it broke up. His only hope was that their sensei was someone capable of dealing with those two while teaching him to be better and stronger.

Because he needed to become better and stronger.

Sasuke chewed on his food but his desire to eat was quickly gone. He felt bile rising in his throat but he swallowed it down with his meal.

He couldn’t let those thoughts get a hold of him. Not again. He needed to steel himself and survive and get stronger, so when he would get there, he could kill his brother with one hit.

Sasuke hiccupped and he had to press his free hand to his mouth. He was glad he’d chosen this remote place to eat. He’d seen his reflection many times when he felt like this. He didn’t want anyone to see his pale face damp with sweat, his watery eyes and the way his whole body tensed to fight back the sickness. If anyone saw him, there would be rumors going around the village and the usual stares of the adults would intensify, and his and the younger generations would make fun of him. How would the last Uchiha of Konoha avenge his family when he got sick by only the thought of it?

Sasuke sighed and wiped his forehead. He needed some progress with his fea—problem. As soon as possible. He was part of a team now, and teams went on missions. Yes, they’d start with easy ones, but then…

He couldn’t let his team find this out. A loud-mouth like Naruto would make a joke out of it and the news would spread like wildfire. He needed this to end before it was too late.

If it wasn’t too late already.

Sasuke looked up at the sun. It was around noon, time to get back to the classroom before the others. So he gathered his things and made his way back. And if he threw the remaining part of his meal into the closest bin, nobody was there to see.

*****

The two of them parted at the corner with a polite farewell. Hiruzen took a few steps, then stopped to look back. He knew where the other was going, and it wasn’t the Academy where he was supposed to show up.

The Hokage sighed and continued his way back to the office.

He hadn’t done it many times, namely showing a future jounin sensei where their students were living. But he’d felt a need to do it with this team. This team was broken. Not in the way of being unable to function, no, that was too early to say. He should put an other description to it…

Damaged.

It was damaged in so many ways, one would think it would be better to send it to therapy sessions than on missions. And in a way it was true. The four of them could be a great help to each other.

When Iruka had suggested to put Naruto and Shikamaru in the same team, he had said that while the two were sometimes skipping classes with two other students, they also had a positive influence on the other. When they were together, Naruto was calmer, more relaxed, and Shikamaru was more active.

“Yamanaka Ino would only rule over the two boys” Iruka had said. “Akimichi Chouji is too polite to say no, and Shikamaru is too lazy to argue. They need to mature before they could work together as perfectly as their fathers.”

“And…” Iruka had paused, eyes dropping a bit as a sad smile appeared on his face. “Naruto has few friends, and even fewer who are his closest friends. I don’t want to put him in a team where the other two wouldn’t like him. He can’t walk out of his home without someone glaring at him hatefully. I don’t want him to experience the same in his own team too. I know as a ninja one has to work with anyone from their village, but they’re still kids. And kids can grow and learn better when they’re surrounded by friends.”

Iruka had a kind heart, one that Hiruzen always envied. Not that he himself had bad intentions all the time. He was just an old man who had seen and been through too much, and sadly sometimes he was too tired to care. As a leader of the village, which was in reality a military base that had grown too big, he had to shut his feelings away in a box sealed by seven locks and make decisions with cold logic. He admired those who could still follow their hearts. Those were the people this world needed the most. If there were more of them, Hidden Villages like this would finally lose their purpose to train soldiers from a young age.

Hiruzen smiled and looked up at the Fourth’s face carved into the rocky hillside. Maybe this generation would bring the change everyone needed. A change for the better. And maybe, just maybe, his decision to once follow his heart would bring that change. It certainly set those children on a path to an unknown future. But knowing Naruto, his determination and his heart, despite the circumstances of his childhood, that future looked brighter than ever before.

So the Hokage smiled as he entered his office and looked down at the Academy through the window. He didn’t know how long he would have to wait until that future finally came, he could only hope to still be there to see it.


	2. Genin – The New Teams – Version 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I honestly didn’t expect any response to the first chapter. Thanks guys for all the kudos, comments and subs! (I’m mostly amazed by the subs. This just became my most subscribed works.) You all rock! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I felt so good about all of this that I wanted to publish the next chapter on the 27th, but no, I have a schedule, and I will follow that schedule or it will all get out of hand :’D So thanks again!

It was a little after noon when they returned to the classroom. The newly formed teams sat together, some of them in peace, talking with hushed voices, others glaring at or outright ignoring their teammates.

Their team was a combination of the two.

Naruto was chatty and to be honest Shikamaru was tempted to tell him to be quiet. He hadn’t stopped talking since they left the classroom a few hours ago - not even while eating, - and Shikamaru needed some silence after long and tiring social interactions. But Naruto was too happy to notice how much he annoyed Shikamaru.

And that was what caused a dilemma inside him. He’d never seen Naruto this happy before. He smiled a lot, but those never felt… real. And now Shikamaru didn’t have the heart to tell him how loud and tiring he was.

He sighed. How troublesome…

Sasuke on the other hand was so silent it was unnatural. He had his usual angry aura around him that made people keep their distance from him, if not with double the intensity. He glared at the air in front of him in such a way Shikamaru wondered if the molecules froze. Or fainted and fell. Not like he cared.

Shikamaru rubbed his forehead. No, no, no. He didn’t have that luxury anymore. Now they were teammates and to some degree he had to care.

This would be so troublesome…

A few minutes apart a jounin entered the room. They said three names and the team left with their new sensei. He waved to Chouji when he followed a man with a beard out of the room, and wondered how long Ino would last in her team as she left with a long haired woman. One by one each team left the room, until…

…it was just the three of them.

The minutes stretched into an hour, then two, then…

“Where’s our sensei?!” Naruto opened the door and looked around the corridor. “It’s been hours! Iruka-sensei left too!”

Shikamaru sighed and continued watching the clouds. He’d been sitting in the open window since the last team left. The air had been getting stale again, and since Naruto stopped talking to him in favor of pacing up and down in front of the blackboard, he lived with the opportunity to relax.

But it was really getting annoying. Even Sasuke, who always kept his cool, started glaring with darker eyes.

“Maybe we should call someone?” Shikamaru suggested with a shrug. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they forgot about—The hell are you doing?”

Naruto was standing on a chair, setting a trap with the blackboard cleaner and the door.

“That’s what they get for making us wait!” Naruto snickered.

Shikamaru sighed and got off the windowsill.

“Naruto, that’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not. They deserve chalk powder in their hair if they’re this lazy to show up.”

Shikamaru heard Sasuke huff, but if in agreement or in disapproval he couldn’t decide.

“You think a jounin would fall into a trap like that? Have you met any? They don’t get a rank that high for nothing.”

He thought about his father. Shikaku was lazy like him, but his reflexes were so sharp even in his sleep, that Shikamaru sometimes wondered how many people he had fooled with his usual passivity.

“I’ve pranked the Hokage many times.” Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest, raising his head proudly as a grin stretched on his face.

“And you think a jounin will be as forgiving as the Hokage?”

“You’re only trying to stop him because you don’t want to be punished too.”

Shikamaru tried not to look at the Uchiha, he really did. But from the corner of his eye he saw that arrogant smirk hiding behind his folded hands, the smirk that he always hated.

“One, if you think that, then maybe you should try stopping him too.” He turned to look at Sasuke. “Just because you sit there doing nothing you think they’ll spare you? Nah. Unfortunately, you’re part of the team, so we’ll be punished as a team which, as I said, you’re a part of. And two” he looked back at Naruto. “Maybe you passed the exam and became a genin. But it doesn’t necessarily mean your assigned sensei will accept you.”

That gave Naruto a pause.

“What?”

He let out a light sigh.

“A jounin doesn’t teach just anyone” Shikamaru explained. “They can send you back to the Academy if they don’t like you.”

He saw the moment Naruto realized what his prank would cause. His eyes widened and his face paled. He quickly turned to remove the cleaner—

—and grey haired man, who had his whole face covered but a single eye, entered at that moment.

And the cleaner fell right on top of his head then bounced off, leaving a cloud of white chalk powder behind it that soon settled in the man’s hair.

The silence in the classroom was deafening. The three of them - yes, surprise surprise, even Sasuke, - held back their breaths and waited for the man to say anything.

The man picked up the cleaner. He rubbed his chin and hummed like he was pondering about something.

“I’m sorry!” Naruto burst out, then quickly slapped both of his hands on his mouth.

The man stopped rubbing his chin. Even though only one of his eyes was visible, his stare was so intense, it made Shikamaru take a step back. He first looked at Naruto, then at Shikamaru, and in the end he glanced at Sasuke.

“Hm, my first impression of you…” he said with a playful tone, which for a moment made Shikamaru hope that their situation wasn’t that bad.

Then the jounin’s voice deepened.

“I don’t like you.”

Shikamaru was sure Naruto was using up all of his hidden energies to not faint right there.

“Are you sending us back to the Academy?” Shikamaru asked.

The jounin watched him for a while, then shrugged.

“Nah.” His almost playful tone was back, but it couldn’t fool Shikamaru anymore. This was the kind of guy who seemed to be nice at first glance, but in reality he was plotting something nasty in his mind. “Follow me.”

Shikamaru and Naruto exchanged looks. They were both uncertain, and looking back at Sasuke he seemed to be too but he hid it better. But right now they couldn’t do other than follow their sensei.

*****

“Introduce yourselves” the jounin said some time later. They came outside and sat down at a lookout not far from the Academy. Their walk there was silent and Naruto couldn’t help but let the fear grow inside him. What if their sensei would send them back because of him? He couldn’t go back to the Academy! He needed to stay in this team and become a ninja! He wouldn’t survive the hateful laughs and the humiliation if he was sent back… And if he wouldn’t become a ninja, how would he get the money to get by? Nobody would give him a job… Maybe Old Man Teuchi, but he would only just scare away the guests and Ichiraku’s would have to be closed and—

“Why?” Shikamaru asked, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts. “I’m sure you read our files before you met us.”

Naruto saw the jounin barely stopping his eye-roll.

“Those files have the boring data. Tell me about what they don’t have. Likes, dislikes? Dreams and hobbies? Something like that.”

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?” Naruto asked, and Shikamaru nodded. They sat next to each other on some stone stairs. Sasuke was on Shikamaru’s other side, silent as always.

“Me? I’m Hatake Kakashi. I don’t want to talk about the things I like and dislike.”

Naruto and Shikamaru frowned at him.

“My dreams—Hm… I have some hobbies.” He clapped his hands. “So! What about you?” Kakashi asked, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto’s knees started bouncing. After a very bad first meeting, he needed to make things a bit better.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto. I like Cup Ramen! What I like more is the ramen from Ichiraku’s that Iruka-sensei buys me! I dislike waiting three minutes until the Cup Ramen is ready. My hobby is to eat ramen! And my dream…”

Naruto paused for a moment.

“To become the Hokage. And for the people in the village to acknowledge me.”

He felt the others’ eyes on him. They were all staring at him and it made Naruto’s stomach twist. He didn’t like when people watched him, didn’t like the glint in their eyes that followed him everywhere he went. He fixed his eyes somewhere above Kakashi’s head so he couldn’t see how his teammates looked at him. Because they were looking at him. Shikamaru turned towards him and Sasuke moved his head slightly too.

The silence was getting too long and Naruto was about to make some jokes when Kakashi spoke again.

“What about you?”

Shikamaru took his time to start answering. Naruto let out a long breath when he finally turned away from him.

“I’m Nara Shikamaru. I like clouds and taking naps. I don’t like troublesome people. My hobbies are sleeping, watching clouds, and playing shogi with my father. Thinking about the future is a waste of energy.”

Naruto almost snorted. Yeah, leave it to Shikamaru to think thinking was something tiresome.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke.

“And you?”

“I’m Uchiha Sasuke” he started with a low voice. “There are many things I dislike, and I don’t really like anything. And…” His folded fingers became tighter. “I don’t have a dream, I have an ambition. To resurrect my clan and to kill a certain someone.”

For a long moment only the wind broke the silence. Naruto slowly turned to Shikamaru who stared back at him with wide eyes.

“Alright!” Kakashi broke the awkward silence with a too cheerful voice and a clap. “You three are interesting kids. We start our mission tomorrow.”

“What kind of mission?” Naruto asked out of curiosity.

“I was just about to explain it.” The man smiled. “It’s a survival mission.”

Shikamaru crossed his arms.

“Isn’t it a little too early for us to go on life threatening missions?”

Kakashi chuckled.

“Oh, it’s not that kind of survival mission. You see, if you fail, you won’t die.” Naruto could see his smile widening under his mask. “You’re going back to the Academy.”

Naruto jumped on his feet, pointing at the jounin.

“You said you wouldn’t send us back!” he shouted.

“Yet. I wouldn’t send you back yet. Did I forget to say ‘yet’? My, my, how foolish of me. Meet me at Training Ground Three at six in the morning.”

Naruto had a feeling the guy wasn’t totally honest with them. And by the reactions of his two teammates, they weren’t very trusting with their new sensei either.

“Oh, and before I forget” Kakashi said as he stood up. “Don’t have breakfast. You’re going to throw it up.”

The jounin quickly left with a puff, leaving the three of them in the lookout.

“That guy…” Naruto muttered under his breath. “Leaving after saying something like that.”

Well, they were done with the first meeting with their sensei. The guy was… strange. He seemed normal even with the mask on his face, but there was something about him that didn’t let Naruto really like him. He was different from Iruka in so many ways. While their former sensei was open about his feelings, be it good or bad, Kakashi had this… How should he say it…? Wall around him. He couldn’t really explain it, but it seemed like their sensei didn’t really want to get to know them.

Maybe it was a jounin thing. Naruto hadn’t met many jounin before. He saw some of course, but not many stopped to talk with him. To be honest, none of them really stopped to have a chat with him. The people who chased him around after a prank were chuunin like Iruka. Sometimes a jounin came to the Academy to teach them some things like strategies, taijutsu and history, for example Sakura’s new sensei, but that was it.

They’d have to wait and see.

“So!” He turned to look at his teammates. “What do you—?”

He didn’t even finish turning when Sasuke was already up to walk away. He put his hands in his pockets and left without saying anything.

Naruto watched his back for a while, hands clenching at his sides. Sasuke was making him angry, acting all cold and everything, like he was above the two of them, and it was an insult to him to be in their team.

“Stop it.”

Naruto blinked and looked down. Shikamaru leaned back on his elbows and stared at the cloudy sky.

“You’re thinking too loud. It’s annoying.”

Naruto sat down next to him, frowning.

“You can’t hear me thinking” he said. “You can’t read minds.”

“Yeah, I can’t” Shikamaru said with a shrug. “But I don’t have to be a mind reader to know you’re thinking too loud.”

Naruto watched Shikamaru, eyes narrowing. They’d known each other since they’d started the Academy, but it always surprised him how weird Shikamaru could talk. He was sometimes talking like the Old Man Hokage, and it was very, very creepy for a boy at this age.

“Don’t worry too much about that guy” Shikamaru continued when Naruto stayed silent. “He’ll sooner or later have to realize that he’s stuck with us.”

“Is that a good thing?”

He realized he said it out loud when Shikamaru looked at him with questioning eyes.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Naruto turned ahead and leaned back on the stairs too, arms behind his head.

“Being stuck with us. Is that a good thing?”

Shikamaru hummed then stayed silent for a while.

“It doesn’t matter. The Hokage decided to put us in the same team, it’s not like we have a say in anything. We’re just a bunch of genin.”

Naruto’s fingers clenched behind his head. So Shikamaru wasn’t that happy about being in this team either, just like Sasuke. He was just seeing it as a must if they wanted to become a ninja. Maybe Shikamaru was one of his only friends, but Shikamaru had better friends than Naruto. He for sure wanted to be in a team with Chouji. But the Hokage decided this way and now he had to go with it even though he didn’t like it.

“What?” Shikamaru asked. Naruto turned to look at him only to find he was already watching him. “You were thinking too loud again.”

Naruto grinned at him.

“I was just thinking how uncomfortable the stairs are to lay on.”

“You don’t have to lay on them.”

Naruto nodded and jumped up.

“Alright! I was about to go anyway! See you tomorrow!”

Naruto left, careful not to look like he was running away. He really should’ve known he was the only one happy to be in this team, because, playing together as kids or not, who would want to be his teammate?

Who would want to be in the same team as a monster?

*****

They met on a clearing the next morning. Naruto looked like he hadn’t slept all night, and Sasuke seemed tired too but he hid it well, like many other things. At the first opportunity he had, Shikamaru dropped his bag to lay down in the grass. He’d really wanted to sleep in that morning and he’d almost done it, but his mother had burst into his room like an army marching to war and threw him out of the bed. That was the worst wake-up of his life.

But the grass was nice to sleep on. The morning dew already dried up so it didn’t soak his clothes and both of his teammates left him alone which was a surprise he wouldn’t protest against, and an opportunity he would fully live with.

He woke on his own a few hours later only to find that the sun was higher, Naruto was sitting next to him, Sasuke was still standing with his arms crossed, and their sensei was still nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Kakashi-sensei?” Shikamaru asked as he sat up.

“He didn’t arrive yet” Sasuke answered instead of Naruto, who was too busy with his rumbling stomach and almost falling asleep.

Shikamaru looked up at the sky. Six in the morning was hours ago and their teacher was still not there. Was that some kind of game? A test? If their sensei tested their patience he probably failed the moment he fell asleep.

“Morning everyone.” Kakashi was suddenly standing a few steps away from them. “Ready for your first day?”

Like he was not almost sleeping a moment ago, Naruto jumped up and pointed at the jounin.

“You’re late!” he shouted.

“Four hours late to be exact” Shikamaru added and stood up too. He was about to cross his arms, but when he noticed that Sasuke did the same he instead put his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, a black cat crossed the street on my way here” the man said. “And you know what they say about black cats. If it crosses your path, you have to take the longest way around the Hidden Village.”

They said one had to turn back home, but Shikamaru wasn’t about to correct him. It was still a miracle that their sensei showed up at all in the end.

“Well then.” Kakashi stepped to the middle one of three poles and placed a clock on it. “The alarm is set to noon. Until then you’ll have a simple task.” He took two bells out of his pocket. “You’ll have to get these bells from me. If you can’t get these by noon, you won’t have lunch. Instead you’ll be tied to those poles and watch as I eat.”

A groan left Naruto when their teacher finished the sentence, and Shikamaru’s empty stomach decided to loudly protest against the idea. It wasn’t fair from their sensei to make them pass this mission without eating. But when was the world fair, really? Nothing was fair.

“Why are there two bells for the three of us?” Sasuke asked, motioning towards the bells with the rise of his chin.

“Excellent question!” Kakashi said. “The reason why there are only two bells is because in the end one of you will definitely be tied to one of those poles and has to go back to the Academy.”

Those threats again. If he hadn’t known better, Shikamaru would've thought those were all empty and the jounin was just joking and playing games with them. But he knew better. The people helping at the Academy with the younger students? The ones who were keeping an eye on them while they were playing between classes? The people working in the Academy library? Running between the Academy and the Hokage Tower with messages in their hands? They were all genin who hadn’t been accepted by their sensei. And until they didn’t become a chuunin somehow, they’d stay there. Or they give up on their future plans as a ninja and continue on with a civilian life.

Which was an acceptable way to divide the promising candidates and the people who had no future as a ninja. Konoha was recruiting soldiers to its army, of course they wouldn’t accept just anyone into those ranks. They needed the genin who showed great potential, room for growth, a promise to become great assets in the future when they were old enough.

But it admittedly was a cruel process, because every genin had a dream of their own, a goal they wanted to achieve. Naruto wanted to become the Hokage and Sasuke wanted to kill someone. The latter was creepy as hell, but a goal nonetheless.

Shikamaru on the other hand? He had nothing. He never really wanted to become a ninja in the first place, but the pressure coming from the village, his clan and his family left him with no other choice. No matter how much he wanted to live a simple and lazy life, he was born into the wrong clan for that, even though the Nara were infamously lazy. He was the only one who could inherit the title ‘Head of the Clan’ since he had no siblings, his father had no siblings, his grandmother had no siblings, and so on. The other Nara were not from the main line of the clan and no matter how well they could use their signature jutsu, only he with the main line’s blood could use it to its fullest potential. And only his line could open those many storages the Nara had in and under their forest. Which was really a drag. So all the responsibility of the future of the clan was concentrated solely on him and his success of becoming a decent ninja. No pressure, really.

So it was not really his dream to become a ninja, it was his clan’s collective one. And Shikamaru couldn’t do anything but fulfill it.

Shikamaru watched Kakashi with narrowed eyes. That was why he had asked about their dreams the other day, so they could hear those and know all three of them had goals. And now he presented an opportunity for two of them who could get the bells first and an end for the third one who couldn’t. He was pitting them against each other. And Shikamaru had a feeling Kakashi knew exactly why he was here, even though he hadn’t said anything the other day. He knew about his clan and expected him to go against the others, like they would go against each other too. Kakashi was playing a nasty game. Which, once again, was an acceptable way to sort out the ones with a promising future. Because those who had a goal set before them would do anything for it.

He couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was a catch somewhere.

“But it doesn’t mean the other two can pass that easily” Kakashi continued and shook the bells. “You can use anything, including shuriken. So come and get them with the intent of killing me. Without it you won’t be able to get the bells.”

Kakashi tied the bells to his belt.

“Alright. When I say start—”

Shikamaru blinked and the next thing he saw was Naruto reaching for the bells. He was amazed how fast he was, but it was no use. Kakashi was quickly behind him, one hand on Naruto’s head, the other pulling his arm back. Naruto made a low groan in pain.

“I didn’t say start yet” Kakashi said. “Breaking the rules already, huh?”

Shikamaru took a step back and he saw Sasuke doing the same. It didn’t seem like angering their teacher was a wise choice.

Kakashi let go of Naruto’s hand who jumped away from him. He glared at the teacher as he rubbed his wrist.

“Look at that. Someone’s out for blood. Good.” A smile appeared under his mask. “Maybe you guys aren’t as hopeless as I thought.”

Kakashi looked at the clock.

“You have about two hours to get the bells. Start!”

Shikamaru quickly jumped into the forest and looked for a good hiding spot. It was time to come up with a strategy.

*****

He didn’t know what to think of these kids. One was too full of himself to acknowledge the others’ talents. One was too unmotivated to do anything if it took more effort than he deemed necessary. And one was—

“Hey, you!”

—loud. So, so loud and very un-ninja like. No matter who his parents were and what was sealed inside him, he hadn’t shown anything yet other than his speed that would make him a good ninja.

“I thought you would hide like the others” Kakashi said and reached into his pouch to take out his book. He didn’t expect anything remarkable from the kid, so why bother giving him his full attention? He was about to get to the best part of the book anyway. “Didn’t you learn how to do a sneak attack at the Academy?”

Naruto huffed and his fists clenched at his side.

“I like fighting the enemy head on!”

Kakashi let out a long sigh. He knew Naruto was an odd one, but it was beyond everything he imagined.

“All right then. Attack me.”

“Won’t you put away that book first?”

“Why would I?” Kakashi shrugged and opened the book. “It’s not like you can actually hit me.”

That hit a nerve, he could tell. Naruto became more unfocused than before and attacked without thinking. That could be actually great in a fight, following one’s instincts, but that required the talent which Naruto horribly lacked at the moment. His movements were rushed and out of anger, which again could be great with talent.

Kakashi sent Naruto with his last attack into the lake. He sighed and turned a page. Did this boy really have a future as a ninja? He knew the Council wanted him trained as a Jinchuriki since he would be a great asset in the power race against the other villages, but that moment was far in the distant future if it really existed at all.

But…

Naruto climbed out of the water and leveled Kakashi with a glare.

Those who were looked down could easily turn out to be the greatest of them all. Those whose hearts were the biggest, and whose actions matched the words they shouted out loud all the time. Those who from an annoying brat could quickly turn into the greatest allies and most precious friends.

“I won’t let you look down on me!” Naruto shouted. “I’m going to show you! I’m going to get one of those bells and pass this stupid test of yours! You better believe it!”

At that moment six other Naruto’s jumped out of the lake and charged at him with the one already there. Kakashi had to admit that he was amazed by the kid’s Shadow Clone Technique. It was a forbidden jutsu and he’d mastered it in a few hours if the reports were true. And they had to been true. A beaten Mizuki locked away was the proof of that. Still…

“You can’t keep up this technique for long. You’re still the worst of the students who graduated this year. You won’t—”

He really should’ve seen the seventh clone sneaking up behind him. But everything could be corrected by a Body Replacement Technique. And while Naruto was busy beating up himself, he could look for the other two and see what they were up to.

Also, a Body Replacement Technique could come in handy when multiple shuriken tried to hit you all at once.

*****

Damn it! He let himself be fooled like Naruto! Now the jounin knew where he was!

Sasuke ran through the forest with high speed, looking for a new hiding spot. He needed to make a new plan. Kakashi would clearly see any attack even when it seemed he didn’t pay attention. Maybe a sneak attack like Naruto’s but a better one.

“Hey there.”

Sasuke came to a halt and jumped back, kunai held in front of him, ready to defend himself.

Kakashi stood in front of him, book still in his hand.

“Going somewhere?”

Sasuke made a quick observation of his surroundings. It was an open area in the forest. The closest hiding spot was too far for him to reach before the jounin got to him. His only option was to attack.

He quickly threw away his kunai and it was soon followed by a few shuriken. Kakashi evaded those, but Sasuke was quickly there, using the shuriken as a distraction to get closer. What Naruto had failed to do was being as quick with a series of actions as possible. He’d let too much time in-between for their sensei to come up with a strategy. But if he was fast enough, he could distract Kakashi long enough for him to get a bell.

And his plan did work for a while. As soon as he got close enough, he punched. Kakashi caught his hand. He kicked. The jounin caught his leg. He spun upside down and kicked with his other leg. The man blocked his attack. And with that he got to the same level as the bells. He just needed to reach out to get one—

But Kakashi quickly caught up and he jumped away.

But Sasuke didn’t stop there. As soon as he landed on his feet he used a fire technique. The flames spread through the clearing and when he stopped ash covered the area where the jounin stood.

Used to stand.

Sasuke tensed when he didn’t see the jounin anywhere. He turned around, looking everywhere to keep an eye on his surroundings, not letting enough time for Kakashi to attack from his blind spot.

He tried not to scream when something grabbed his leg and pulled him down. His body was soon under the ground, only his head was above it.

“This is an Earth Style jutsu called Headhunter Jutsu.” Kakashi crouched down in front of him, bells ringing mockingly on his belt.

Sasuke huffed and looked away. He hated when people made a fool out of him. He wasn’t like those two other idiots. From the three of them he was the only one who deserved to be here, Naruto and Shikamaru were the two dead last of their class. And now he got a sensei like this guy!

“I know that look” Kakashi said, head tilting so he could have a better look at Sasuke’s face. “That’s the eyes of someone who thinks they’re better than everyone and deserves better treatment. And you know what? You’re wrong.”

Sasuke hoped the heat of the anger he felt didn’t show on his face.

“Those people are the worst kind of ninja, because they’re reckless, cocky and think they know everything better than the others. You have talent, that’s true, I’m not afraid to admit it, but that’s just the third of what makes a ninja good. And right now? You have the worst chance of becoming one.”

It felt like a bucket of ice was poured on his head. The earth around his chest started crushing him, breaking his ribs, puncturing his lungs, and he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe…

“Oh well!” Kakashi stood up, not caring about or not noticing the panic he caused in Sasuke. “Not like your teammates have a better chance. And if you now excuse me, I need to catch a sloth.”

With that Kakashi walked away, not even betting an eye on the frozen Sasuke.

*****

So that was the technique Naruto was talking about.

The Clone Jutsu they’d learned at the Academy was just an illusion, a mirage. But a mirage couldn’t leave footprints on the ground, it couldn’t touch anything, it couldn’t make a sound.

But Naruto’s clones were not mere illusions.

They were real and solid.

How did he learn something like that? He’d said he’d learned it the night after the exam. How was that even possible? And where had he gotten his hands on an advanced technique like that? It didn’t seem like something laying around in the Academy’s library. This technique had benefits, but the dangers were the same. It could raise the number in their army, but in the enemy’s too, so he wouldn’t be surprised if this technique was sealed away somewhere in the Hokage Tower.

Which raised the question: How had Naruto gotten his hands on it?

Shikamaru turned on his back with a sigh and started watching the sky through the leaves. The night of their graduation again. He shouldn’t waste his time thinking about it, but it bothered him too much to ignore.

First of all, Iruka and Mizuki graded them on the exam. Naruto failed that exam. Later that night a chuunin came for his father. Nara Shikaku was the Jounin Commander of Konoha and was only called at an hour like that when something serious was going on. That night Naruto learned this technique, which was probably locked in the Hokage Tower, and Iruka gave him a forehead protector. Between the exam and the next day Iruka got injured. The next morning his father had mentioned Mizuki’s name who was now missing.

Shikamaru sighed again and rubbed his face with his palm. That all had happened during a single night and it was too much to be a simple coincidence. Something had happened to Naruto, Iruka and Mizuki, something serious since his father had to be called in. But what exactly?

“Did you have a nice nap?”

Shikamaru opened his eyes. Kakashi stood above him, hands buried in his pockets.

Shikamaru frowned and looked around. When did Naruto get tied to that pole? Why was the air warmer? And when did the sun get so—

The alarm clock started ringing not so far and Shikamaru groaned out loud. Damn it, he had fallen asleep in the middle of the test!

“Yeah, exactly” Kakashi nodded and pointed at the poles. “Go and wait there until Sasuke gets back. We’re going to have a nice chat, the four of us.”

Shikamaru got up slowly and made his way to the poles. Naruto was hanging his head but as soon as he heard somebody coming his way he looked up.

“Shikamaru! Did you get a bell?”

“Nah.” Shikamaru shrugged and sat down on Naruto’s right, back against the pole. “I fell asleep under the bushes. You? How did you get here?”

Naruto’s stomach chose that moment to growl as loud as it could. The boy dropped his head again.

“I was hungry.”

Shikamaru nodded in understanding.

They waited in silence until Sasuke arrived. He was covered in dust from shoulder to toe and showed his back to them when he sat down on Naruto’s other side.

“So!” Kakashi stepped to them, posture as casual as it could be. “After seeing what each of you are capable of, I decided I won’t send you back to the Academy.”

Shikamaru frowned. Naruto was about to celebrate that they somehow passed the test, but Shikamaru raised his hand to stop him before he could do that. He was done taking their sensei’s words for granted.

“But we didn’t pass” he said.

Kakashi sighed out loud and looked up at the sky. His shoulders also dropped.

“I wanted to see your faces when I told you you’re dropped from the whole ninja business, but oh well.”

“What!?”

Shikamaru blinked.

That wasn’t Naruto bursting out.

That was Sasuke.

Sasuke jumped up on his feet, fists trembling at his sides.

“You can’t do that! I at least tried to get those bells! But these two?!”

“Hey!” Naruto yelled. “I tried it too! Twice!”

Shikamaru shook his head.

“Your yelling won’t make him change his mind” he commented.

“That’s exactly why you can’t be a ninja” Kakashi said without raising his voice but it made the two go quite. His growing anger was only seen in his narrowing eye. “You don’t think like a ninja, you’re just a bunch of brats who have no idea what’s like to be one. You think it’s just a game? Or something you can show off with? Do you even know why you’re in a team? And what this exercise is all about?”

And _there_ was the catch.

Shikamaru sighed.

“Teamwork.”

He felt all eyes on him as he said that. Shikamaru looked up at the teacher and continued with a bit stronger voice.

“You intentionally put us in a situation that would make us work against each other. You wanted to see if we could put aside the fact that there were only two bells for the three of us and join forces for a common goal.”

Naruto and Sasuke stared at him in silence while Kakashi started clapping his hands slowly, almost in a mocking way.

“Congratulations. You understand the meaning of this test. Too bad you fell asleep before you could figure it out.”

Kakashi shook his head and turned to the statue not far from the poles.

“Dreams. Ambitions. All three of you have one, be it your own or someone else’s. We all want to make them a reality, but is it worth it when in the mean time you are so self-absorbed to see your team falling apart? You need to put aside your needs and think as a group.”

He turned back to them.

“Naruto, you take actions without thinking and do everything on your own. Shikamaru, you’re too lazy to care about the wellbeing of your teammates. Sasuke, you’re arrogant and think the others are beneath you in everything. No matter what talents you possess, if you don’t use it for the benefit of the team, the squad falls apart and you fail the mission. And that can coast a life too. For example.”

He took a kunai out of his holster.

“Shikamaru! Kill Sasuke or I kill Naruto!”

Shikamaru froze. Kakashi couldn’t be serious. This was just part of the lecture. He wouldn’t seriously—

And Kakashi threw away the kunai.

Naruto was too shocked to do anything but open his eyes wide.

The kunai was getting closer.

This was insane! What was Kakashi thinking?!

Shikamaru took a kunai out of his holster and jumped up to hit away the one Kakashi threw. But Sasuke jumped there too, probably having the same intention as Shikamaru, and the two crashed into each other resulting in both of them falling on the ground. While falling, Shikamaru turned his wide eyes towards Naruto who was still looking at the kunai—

—that turned into a paper ball and fell on the ground.

The silence on the clearing was deafening.

“That could’ve been a bull’s-eye if this was a real mission.” Kakashi spun the real kunai around his finger before he put it away. “On a real mission, all three of you would be dead by now. Real ninjas go on real missions. But since this is not a real mission, you’re not a real ninja either.”

He turned and walked to the statue.

Shikamaru just now woke from his stupor and was quickly next to Naruto.

“You okay?”

Naruto’s eyes were staring ahead, gaze empty. His whole body was trembling, even his movements were shaky when he shook his head. Shikamaru let out a long breath and rubbed Naruto’s arm in reassurance.

“Have you seen this before?” When he heard Kakashi’s question, Shikamaru turned. The jounin was standing in front of the statue. “Have you read the names? They are all ninjas who are honored as heroes in our village. They were all killed in action.”

Wind blew across the training ground. It felt cold, almost freezing in the late spring heat.

“It’s a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends were engraved here.”

Kakashi’s voice was low, filled with grief and pain, and it felt like he had nobody else in his life he could count on just this stone and the ghosts of the past.

From the corner of his eye Shikamaru saw Sasuke slowly sitting up, head hung low. Naruto finally pulled himself together from the fright only to drop his gaze. Shikamaru sighed and sat down.

They waited in silence until Kakashi turned to look back at them.

“I’m giving you one last chance. After lunch you have two more hours to get these bells, but I won’t go easy on you this time around. Sasuke and Shikamaru can eat, eating means you accept a second chance, but Naruto stays hungry. This is his punishment for trying to eat before the time was up and breaking the rules. And anyone who tries to feed him will automatically fail. I make the rules and you must follow them.”

All three of them, even Naruto, stayed silent as Kakashi spoke, nobody protested. Kakashi put the lunch boxes in front of Shikamaru and Sasuke, then turned to leave.

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Get ready.”

*****

Sasuke stared at the lunchbox in his hands. He knew he needed to eat if he wanted to get those bells, but…

He sighed.

The tightness in his throat didn’t let up and he knew he couldn’t get anything down. Even if he did, his stomach was too small for anything to stay there. He didn’t want to admit it, but this meant that he would never become a ninja. His goal to find Itachi and—his goal was unreachable now. Without a jounin to teach him how would he become stronger? Nobody would accept an apprentice who had already failed. He needed to look for an other way.

“Shikamaru? Why don’t you eat?”

Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru who sat with his arms crossed, lunchbox untouched.

“Because it’s unfair.” He was staring at the box, like it was made out of poison. “He wants us to work together, but forbids one of us to eat. It’s unfair. And it doesn’t make sense. It’s the complete opposite of what he lectured us about.”

“I don’t mind it, really!” Naruto reassured him. “You can eat and get the bells. Don’t worry about me. I can go without eating for days.”

“No” Shikamaru said. “I can’t eat if someone next to me has to stay hungry. And anyway, it doesn’t seem like Sasuke is up for eating either, so if you two stay hungry, I stay hungry too.”

With that the Nara laid down in the grass, arms behind his head, and started watching the sky.

Sasuke looked at his own lunchbox, still untouched.

“But if we don’t eat” he started, startling Naruto, “that means we won’t accept our second chance.”

They were sitting or laying or tied up in silence only disturbed by their empty stomachs protesting against their decision.

“So?” Naruto asked in the end. “How will we get the bells then?”

Shikamaru sighed and crouched up slowly. He turned down his hands and put his fingers together. Sasuke frowned at him. He’d never seen this hand seal before.

“What are you doing?” Naruto spoke again, out of patience. “Did you fall asleep again? Isn’t it a little too much sleeping for one day?”

“I’m thinking” Shikamaru groaned. “Now be quiet.”

Sasuke and Naruto stared at Shikamaru, who stayed in the same position for a long while before he started talking.

“Naruto, how many clones can you summon?”

Naruto hummed as he thought about it.

“A lot. I never counted.”

“Sasuke, do you know any fire techniques?”

“Of course” Sasuke huffed. Of course he knew fire techniques, that was his clan’s signature jutsu.

He ignored the coldness that spread through his empty stomach at the thought of his clan.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked at them with a smirk.

“Here’s the plan.”

*****

Kakashi watched them from afar as the three started talking with hushed voices, their lunch untouched. Interesting. He’d thought they’d eat and don’t give anything to Naruto, but instead they all refused to eat. The Nara kid was planning something.

Not that Kakashi would’ve sent them away at the slightest attempt towards teamwork. He would’ve ended the whole ordeal if they’d started feeding Naruto, because that would’ve meant they cared about their teammate more than the looming threat of never becoming a ninja. Staying hungry was something he hadn’t thought they would chose since he’d told them that eating meant they’d accept a new chance to get the bells. He wondered what they were planning.

Anything would be better than trying to beat each other.

Kakashi sighed as he remembered his first almost-team and looked at the sky. He’d planned to end this test somewhere around here, but he was too curious to see what they were coming up with. Maybe…

Maybe this generation would turn out to be different than the previous ones. In a hopefully positive way. In a way Minato would’ve been proud of. He saw the spark of it in the form of both Shikamaru and Sasuke jumping between Naruto and the kunai.

He could’ve ended the test there, but they needed to learn the lesson. They needed to understand that once they were accepted into a team, their childhood would come to an end. He could argue that Naruto and Sasuke’s childhood already ended, but what would come next was nothing they had ever experienced before. He could only hope they would grow up to be adults and not die on a foreign land far from home at such a young age.

*****

“Alright then.”

Kakashi untied the ropes. Naruto fell forward into the grass and groaned out loud when his stomach complained against moving before it was full. He didn’t lie, he could really go on for days without eating, but that was back at the Academy when they had to sit almost all day. He didn’t know how Shikamaru’s plan would work, but they had to give it a try.

“I see you’re ready for the new round. Shikamaru, Sasuke, are you full?”

Naruto slowly stood up as the other two nodded. The lunchboxes were empty in front of them.

“Two more hours” Kakashi said. “If you don’t get the bells in those hours, you can say goodbye to becoming a ninja. Understood?”

The three nodded and before Kakashi could say anything they scattered.

Naruto ran to the right and hid under the bushes. He watched as Kakashi looked around then opened the book to continue reading. Naruto clenched his fists and swallowed back a groan in hunger. Shikamaru told him to wait at least an hour because the sun and blah blah blah. So Naruto used all of his willpower and waited.

The minutes passed slowly. Naruto had no idea how much time had passed. Minutes, hours, it all seemed to last forever.

“Go.”

Naruto almost jumped up, but an arm was quickly on his back and a hand on his mouth. Shikamaru leaned closer to look at him.

“It’s been an hour and three quarters” he whispered. “Can’t you tell time by the position of the sun?”

Naruto shook his head. Shikamaru sighed.

“It doesn’t matter now. Go and do as I said.”

“Got it” Naruto said as soon as Shikamaru pulled away and jumped out of the bushes.

Kakashi raised a brow when he noticed him.

“This again?” he asked, not bothering to look up from his book. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time?”

Naruto laughed.

“I don’t give up that easily!” He raised his hands. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!”

Multiple clones of him appeared all around Kakashi, but it didn't bother the jounin. He turned a page in his book and continued reading.

“This is getting boring real quick” he commented.

“We’ll see!” Naruto yelled and jumped up. His clones followed him.

He was high above Kakashi when he made a movement with his hands. He felt a hand grabbing his arm and he was thrown back to the edge of the woods. Naruto looked up right when Sasuke transformed back to himself and turned towards the sky.

“Fire Style!”

Now Kakashi looked up. Unfortunately Naruto couldn’t see his face, but he had no time for that. His eyes were fixed on the bells.

“Great Fireball Technique!”

Sasuke blew a giant fireball above him and the clones. As soon as he did that, Shikamaru jumped out of the woods. He quickly crouched down and locked his hands into a seal.

“Ninja Art! Shadow Possession Jutsu!”

The shadow under him started moving forward, quickly connecting to the shadows of the clones that became longer in the light of the fireball, and soon touched Kakashi’s shadow too. Naruto’s eyes widened as he—

“Naruto!”

Naruto started running as fast as he could. He reached out, fingers almost touching the bells—

—then he ran into a log head first.

He landed on his stomach, his head spinning. He heard his clones disappearing then a... wave? He couldn’t tell how much exactly, but a lot of water landed on him. As he coughed the water out he heard a splash and a groan next to him that sounded exactly like Sasuke. Then a surprised yell and Shikamaru landed close to them in the mud.

Naruto turned his head. Kakashi stood where Shikamaru had been crouching. He put his hands into his pockets and started walking towards them. Naruto tried to move, but he was too hungry and he used up too much chakra. And he was still seeing double. The others were no better than him. They couldn’t do anything as Kakashi stopped above them, looking at the three with a raised brow.

“You give up already? You still have about five minutes left. Wasn’t the lunch filling, Sasuke and Shikamaru?” He narrowed his eye. “Or. Maybe you didn’t eat at all.”

As he said the last words all three’s stomachs started grumbling. Kakashi shook his head.

“Didn’t I tell you you were only getting a second chance if you two ate?” When he didn’t get an answer, he continued. “Where is your lunch?”

“We hid the food in our kunai holster then threw it away in the forest” Shikamaru muttered.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Because I refuse to eat when one of my teammates has to stay hungry.”

Kakashi crouched down, eye darker.

“Then why didn’t you give him from your lunch?”

“Because it was too risky.”

“Because putting the food in your holster was not.”

“We could still pretend to eat. Feeding Naruto would’ve been too visible.”

Kakashi hummed.

“Your conditions made no sense!” Shikamaru burst out, hitting the mud next to him in frustration. “You said that we needed to put aside our needs for the team then say that one of us had to stay hungry?! Where’s the logic in that?!”

Sasuke huffed not far from them.

“If you want us to be a team then allow all of us to eat or don’t give us lunch at all in the first place, that’s what he tries to say.”

Kakashi hummed again and rubbed his chin.

“Well. You broke the rules. That means only one thing.”

Naruto was suddenly up on his feet. He didn’t know how he had the energy to stand, but he had to stop the jounin.

“Kakashi-sensei! Leave them alone! Send me away!”

“Oh?” Kakashi raised a brow.

Naruto felt the others’ eyes on him.

“Naruto, stop!”

“Shut up, you idiot!”

“No!” Naruto yelled at them then turned back to Kakashi. “If anyone, I should be punished! It was my fault we got into this in the first place! Shikamaru is lazy, but he’s pretty smart. And Sasuke acts like a jerk, but he’s talented. If anyone, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve to be here!”

Kakashi watched him with a searching eye.

“And what about your dream? Don’t you want to become the Hokage? How can you do that if you don’t become a ninja?”

Naruto swallowed.

“I’ll think about something.”

Kakashi stared at him for a while, then sighed and crossed his arms.

“Now if you let me finish. You broke the rules, that means only one thing.”

His eye narrowed, his brow arched. Under his mask he was… smiling?

“You all passed.”

Shikamaru and Sasuke sat up in surprise.

“What?”

“I intentionally put you into a situation, where following the rules would mean betraying a teammate, and aiding a teammate would mean breaking the rules. I tested how much you would risk to help the other. When you decided to break the rules, I thought you would feed Naruto, but you made this unnecessarily complicated.” He slowly shook his head at the last part. “There’s a saying I want all three of you to remember. In the ninja world those who break the rules are scum, that’s true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. So, congratulations, you worked together in hardship. You passed the test.”

Naruto stared at their sensei with wide eyes then a gleeful yell broke out of him.

“YES!” He jumped up, but the ground was too slippery, so he fell on Shikamaru, who then fell back into the mud.

“Damn it, Naruto…” But he didn’t do anything to push him off. He probably had no energy left to move, just like Naruto.

“I’m sorry!” he whined. “I’m so hungry!”

Kakashi chuckled and stood up.

“Now that you guys passed the test, what do you think about a very late lunch? My treat.”

Naruto made a tired ‘yay’ sound, but didn’t move.

“But first we have to get there” Kakashi added.

The three boys groaned at the same time.

*****

He was still covered in dry mud when he got home. But at least his stomach was full now. In the doorway his father was waiting for him with an amused smirk on his face.

“How was your first day in a team? Did you pass?”

Shikamaru groaned.

“Tiring, and yes, we passed. What kind of guy is this Kakashi? Do you know him?”

Shikaku shrugged.

“A bit, I guess. What about your teammates?”

Shikamaru noticed how poorly his father changed the subject, but he had no energy to call him out on that.

“Sasuke’s arrogant. But he can work in a team, even if it only happens after he’s humiliated. And Naruto…”

Shikamaru stopped and frowned at his feet. He was a whole other story. A mystery.

“What about him?”

“He’s reckless and doesn’t think before he acts, but… He was willing to be punished for all of us without a second thought. He surprised me.” He looked up at his father. “Why do the villagers hate him so much? He pulls a lot of pranks sure, but he’s generous. Even to someone like Sasuke who he doesn’t like at all. So why?”

Shikaku watched his son for a while, then stepped closer to put a hand on his shoulder. Shikamaru stared at him, eyes narrowing.

“Shikamaru” he started, voice serious. “There are things you’re still too young to understand. Adults can be very judgmental while they don’t bother to understand the world around them. Do you hate Naruto?” When Shikamaru shook his head, he continued. “Then get to know him. Be his friend. Show him that there are some people in this village who don’t judge him without seeing who he really is.”

Shikamaru stared at his father, the question that was bothering him for a day now suddenly coming out of him.

“What happened to Naruto after our graduation?”

There was a glint of surprise in Shikaku’s eyes before he shook his head with a smirk on his face and patted Shikamaru’s head.

“Go and clean yourself. You don’t want your mother to be angry at you for getting dirt everywhere.”

He walked back into the house, leaving Shikamaru at the porch. Shikamaru sighed and took off his sandals before entering. At least now he knew that something did happen, and the connection he made between Naruto's new technique and the sudden call for his father that night was correct.

“Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru froze in the motion of taking off his jacket and looked up. Yoshino had her hands on her hips, looking at his dirty clothes with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t expect me to wash those muddy clothes, do you?”

Shikamaru barely held back an eye roll.

How troublesome.

*****

Far from the Nara household, far from Naruto’s sorry excuse of a home, and far from Sasuke’s always quite apartment, back at Training Ground Three a lone figure stood in front of the memorial stone, watching it in silence as he usually did.

“So? What do you think?”

Kakashi didn’t bother to look at Tenzou.

“What do you think?” he asked back.

Tenzou stepped next to him, watching the memorial stone too.

“They’re still kids, but they have a great potential. With time they can become great ninjas.” Tenzou raised a brow at him. “So, what do you think? You’re their teacher after all.”

Kakashi chuckled and shrugged.

“Same here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I had to rewrite a few parts right before posting X’D I accidentally gave the kids some high level space-time ninjutsu they actually used twice, like for example they originally switched the food in the bento box with leaves in the forest, but then I was thinking that something was not right with it, and it bothered me so much I had to change it.
> 
> Also, not really mentioned here, but I changed a few things with the Academy graduation, mainly the ages. Students have to be 6 when they enter the Academy in April and have to be 12 to take their graduation exam. If they fail, they have to repeat their last year until they graduate (like Iwabe in Boruto) or ultimately drop out of school. No early graduations and Naruto failing I don’t know how many times before he turned 12. That’s just stupid. Like, Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Shino (list intentionally not including Shikamaru, because we all know how lazy and not so motivated he is) should’ve graduated earlier if that was the case. Or they should be much younger than the others.
> 
> Speaking of the age of the characters, there’s a timeline on Narutopedia made by a user. The birthdays of the characters are all mixed up, not considering that the Ninja Academy in Naruto is based on the Japanese school system, where the school year starts in April. So I started making my own timeline (because you need to make a timeline if you don’t want to get lost, and sometimes I still get lost) and I added the Rookie 9’s birthdays. So from oldest to youngest (MM/DD): Chouji (5.1.), Kiba (7.7.), Sasuke (7.23.), Shikamaru (9.22.), Ino (9.23.), Naruto (10.10.), Hinata (12.27.), Shino (1.23.), Sakura (3.28).  
> Fun fact: Tenten was born the same year as most of the Rookie 9, but since her birthday is in March, she started the Academy a year earlier than them.
> 
> So this concludes this long author’s note and also the chapter. Team 7 is done, Team 8 is coming up next in two weeks :)


	3. Genin – The New Teams – Version 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeey, I’m back :D I started working today, I postponed my final exams to January… Eventful weekend and day. But you’re not here for that! :D This was a fun chapter to write since we didn’t really see the other teams in canon until the Chuunin Exam, so up until that we didn’t really have any idea about them. But that won’t happen here. Fleshing out the characters and building up the relationships mean lots of screen time.

She was sad to find out she was not in the same team as Naruto. But she didn’t know how to feel about her current team. She knew Chouji was a kind and polite boy who wouldn’t hurt anyone intentionally, he hated when others commented on his weight, and he spent most of his time with Shikamaru.

Sakura… She confused her sometimes. She remembered how quiet and shy she always had been, similar to Hinata in a way, and she had always been hurt by all those comments and teasing she got for her forehead. Which, in her opinion, wasn’t big at all. It suited her, really. Especially after Ino had encouraged her to tie her hair up with a ribbon. Hinata always admired Sakura for her courage to show the world her forehead, the very thing the girls in their class bullied her for. She proudly wore her hair tied up with a ribbon and went on with her life on Ino’s side. Their friendship was something Hinata always envied.

Or used to envy. Because their friendship ended quite abruptly. One day they were still laughing together, tied together like conjoined twins, and the next they were enemies. They both became harsh, loud, and they offended the other in every way they could. It was horrible to see how their friendship turned into something else.

Their lunch together was nice, even though at one point she was almost overwhelmed by sadness when Sakura and Chouji started talking about their mothers. She… envied them… Which was horrible to even think about. It sounded like Hinata wanted to take away their families, but that thought never crossed her mind. She was… happy for them. Even if it hurt. Which, again, was horrible to think about.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she looked at her teammates. Their team, Team 8, seemed to be a nice one. There was tension all around them in the classroom, then there was her team, smiling and chatting like the others didn’t matter. It was like a peaceful island surrounded by a whirling sea.

The door opened and a man with a beard entered the room. Everyone went quite as he walked up to the desk and looked at the papers in his hand. Hinata knew the man, everyone did. He was Sarutobi Asuma, the Third Hokage’s son. They had about three classes with him while they studied at the Academy.

“Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura and Akimichi Chouji” he said the names and looked up. His eyes met his team’s and a smile spread on his face. “Please, come with me.”

Sakura and Chouji stood up quickly and Hinata followed them a little slower. Chouji waved to Shikamaru on their way out and they stopped on the corridor after Asuma closed the door behind them.

“I’m Sarutobi Asuma. I’ll be your team’s jounin sensei. Nice to meet you guys.”

They all bowed and greeted their new teacher. Asuma rubbed the back of his neck and laughed.

“I didn’t expect you three to be so polite. But I shouldn’t really think every genin is like I used to be.” Asuma started walking down the corridor and they followed him. “I was thinking about barbeque. What do you guys think?”

Chouji’s eyes lit up.

“Barbeque? Really?”

“Chouji” Sakura started. “We just had lunch. You can’t be that hungry again.”

Chouji straightened his back.

“You should always live with the opportunity when you’re invited for a meal.”

Asuma laughed out loud and patted Chouji’s shoulder.

“I like your philosophy.”

Hinata couldn’t help but smile a little at that. At first glance this team wasn’t that bad. She was still sad that Naruto was in a different team, but she couldn’t say she didn’t like this one at all. Chouji was nice and Sakura was showing them their warmer side that didn’t have a chance to shine in the past few years.

She had a feeling she would like this team.

*****

He was a bit sad to find out he wasn’t in the same team as Shikamaru. He was his first and only friend for a very long time, the only one who ever really believed in him outside his family, who didn’t see just the fat kid in him, but someone who he could trust and rely on. And for him, Shikamaru was always someone who he respected, because what he lacked in strength he had triple in brain power, and despite his lazy and almost cold nature he was a truly caring person. He would miss him. It wasn’t like they’d never see each other again, but still. Being in a team meant they would spend most of their time together. And he was already used to spending most of his time with Shikamaru.

He didn’t mean it to sound like complaining. He liked this team so far. Hinata and Sakura were the only girls in their class who hadn’t made fun of him. They were kind and friendly, and he wouldn’t have known that about them if they hadn’t been put into the same team. So he was truly glad for that. It meant he would get more friends, the ones his father had talked about years ago.

At least he hoped they would be friends.

Asuma seemed to be a good teacher too. He’d seen him sometimes around Konoha, once he saw him talking with his father. He didn’t know much about him, but he invited them for lunch, and that always meant a good point in Chouji’s book.

He had no idea why he hadn’t visited Yakiniku Q before. Maybe because his mother’s home cooked meals were so good he never considered going to a restaurant. But this place… It was amazing. The atmosphere, the smells, the food… Everything was wonderful. He really liked this place. He hoped they would come here often in the future.

“So” Asuma said as they all started to roast their food. “Tell me about yourselves. We’ll spend a lot of time together, so it’s better if we get to know each other at the beginning. It will make everything easier in the future. Would you like to go first?”

Hinata jumped a little. She was sitting next to Sakura while Chouji and Asuma sat on the other side, so Chouji could see the way Hinata’s cheeks started to have a pinkish color.

“I’m Hyuuga Hinata” she said and went silent.

They stayed quiet for a while, only the frizzle of the meat on the grid broke it.

“And I’m Haruno Sakura!” Sakura said quickly, a bright smile on her face. “I like trivia games and going to the Academy library. And you, Hinata?” She turned to the other girl.

Hinata blinked a few times at Sakura then turned her attention to the meat and started poking it with her chopsticks.

“I… I like cooking” she said finally.

Asuma hummed.

“That’s great girls. Are there anything you don’t like?”

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. In Chouji’s opinion the frown that appeared on her face was a bit funny.

“Obnoxious people.”

Hinata turned the meat on the grid. It had a nice color, exactly what it was supposed to be like.

“Injustice” she muttered.

Asuma nodded a few times, then put his forearm on the table and leaned on it a bit, like he was about to share a secret.

“And? Are there any boys?”

Both of the girls made a sound like a squeak and turned bright red. They mumbled out some not understandable things at the same time.

Chouji put the meat he was roasting on his plate and started eating.

“Sakura likes Sasuke, and Hinata likes Naruto.”

Hinata gasped, face paling in less than a second.

“CHOUJI!” Sakura yelled and hit the table with her fist, the wood almost cracking. The woman at the counter looked towards them with a disapproving frown.

“What?” Chouji asked between two bites. “It was always obvious.”

“Obvious or not, you can’t just tell everyone about a girl’s crush! What if they find out?!”

“Who?”

“Sasuke!” Then she added after glancing at Hinata who was still mortified by the topic of their conversation. “And Naruto!”

Chouji frowned, honestly confused.

“But how can you get anywhere with them if you don’t want them to know about it?”

Sakura was about to argue some more but Asuma turned to Chouji.

“Let’s leave it to the girls, Chouji. What about you? What are your likes and dislikes?”

Chouji swallowed down his food before he said anything.

“I like my friends and eating. I don’t like it when people tease me and think it’s funny.”

“Yeah, I can understand” Asuma nodded. “Bullying between kids can be cruel.”

The four of them turned their attention back to eating. Chouji put more and more meat on the grid, eagerly waiting for it to be finished. Hinata turned out to be a slow but big eater, and Sakura mentioned something about a diet she recently started.

“Be careful with diets, Sakura” Asuma told her. “As a ninja you need to eat to have enough strength. Starving yourself can lead to muscle loss and both body and chakra exhaustion in the long run. What matters is the what, the when, the how and the how much. Also you need to pay attention to how you train your body. If you get enough experience in it, you can eat anything and know exactly how to train for it to not show. If you’re interested, I have a friend at the hospital who’s specialized on arranging diets for ninjas. I can ask him to help you.”

Sakura’s eyes lit up hearing Asuma’s offer.

“Wow! Thank you, Asuma-sensei!”

“Tell me” Asuma started, turning to all three of them, “what brought you here?”

Sakura frowned at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you go to the Academy?” he clarified. “I know it’s kind of a strange question, but I’m really curious to know what motivated you to become a ninja.”

Once again Hinata busied herself with the food, clearly trying to avoid answering the question.

“It interested me from a very young age” Sakura answered without hesitation. “My parents used to be ninjas but they both retired when they got married. I decided to be a ninja mainly because of them.”

“And?” Asuma asked. He put down his chopsticks and put both of his forearms on the table, giving Sakura his full attention. “Do you have any plans? What kind of ninja do you want to be?”

Sakura hesitated before she said anything.

“I never really thought about it. I think I first want to see what I’m good at. Iruka-sensei always told me I have good chakra control.”

Asuma nodded.

“We can work with that.” He looked at Chouji. “You, Chouji? Why did you want to become a ninja?”

Chouji tried not to sigh. It wasn’t really his goal to become a ninja. It was more like… a must. As an Akimichi, only heir in the main family, he had to learn to be a ninja. The secret Akimichi techniques were passed down from parent to child, and since he didn’t have any siblings, he had to be the one to pass it down to the next generation. So what brought Chouji here? Not his free will.

But it didn’t mean he disliked learning to be a ninja. His father was a great warrior, a war hero really, who had fought both in the Second and the Third Great Ninja War and came out victorious from each. One day he wanted to become a ninja just like him. He just needed to get there somehow…

“I want to be a ninja like my father” he said in the end. It was true but not the whole truth.

“Oh, yeah I know Chouza.” Asuma smiled at him. “I believe that with some training you will be as great as him.”

Chouji couldn’t help but stare at Asuma in surprise. Nobody had ever said something so nice to him. Okay, not including his parents and Shikamaru. Apart from them, nobody had ever believed that he was good for anything. He was slow, he was weak, he was simple minded. And after hearing it so many times Chouji started to believe them. He started to believe that he really was a good for nothing burden to everyone who ever had the misfortune to play or work with Chouji. He always wondered if Shikamaru only befriended him because he was too lazy to care about anything.

No. He shook his head mentally. He shouldn’t think like that about Shikamaru. Yes, he was lazy and cared about almost nothing, but Chouji was one of the small amount of things he truly cared about.

“Thank you, sensei” he said quickly when he realized he was just staring at Asuma in silence.

Asuma patted his shoulder with a smile than turned to Hinata.

“And you, Hinata?”

Hinata ducked her head. Her chin and mouth was now hidden behind the forehead protector she wore around her neck like a high collar. She was rubbing the ends of the chopsticks together and her eyes were stubbornly fixed on the grid.

“I want to be useful” she said in the end with a small voice.

Hinata ducked her head more when Asuma hummed at that.

“Everyone is useful for something” he said with a kind voice. “We all have a purpose in this life. We only need to find it. But we don’t have to find it right now. We have plenty of time for that.”

Hinata looked up and that was the first time since they entered the restaurant that she looked directly into anyone’s eyes. She seemed stunned by their teacher’s words, her eyes rounded and her lips parted. She went completely still.

“I…” she started, but didn’t finish the sentence. Asuma smiled at her and waved his hand in a dismissing why, like he didn’t want to force Hinata to make any responses.

“After we finished here go home and sleep” he told them, becoming more serious. “Tomorrow we’re doing a little test.”

Sakura straightened up.

“What kind of test?” she asked with barely contained excitement. Chouji knew that while his grades were always among the worst half of the class, Sakura was one of the top students.

“I want to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how to continue your training.”

Chouji, Hinata and Sakura nodded, then turned back to eating, their conversation getting lighter. Chouji decided that yes, Asuma was a good teacher. He was friendly and encouraging, he had something good to say to all of them. Chouji felt like they were at the beginning of something great.

*****

_His father rarely called him to his office other than when he sent him on a mission. He never saw his father other than when Asuma gave him mission reports in his office. Which was a depressing thought, but Asuma had time to get used to it. A little more than twelve years to be exact. One could say that the death of his wife had hit the Hokage hard and he’d buried himself into work to cope with it, but Asuma and his sister had lost their mother that night too. And had anyone cared about him enough to tell the Hokage that maybe he should spend more time with his kids? No._

_“He’s bad with emotions” Mikan had said, patting the top of his head. She was seven years older than him, also more mature, and at that time she’d been able to think through everything calmly._

_Asuma on the other hand…_

_“I don’t care about his emotions!” he’d shouted and hit away Mikan’s hand. “Does he care about mine?! No! Then why should I care about his?!”_

_Mikan had watched him with the same relaxed but unwavering gaze like their mother’s and he’d had to look away._

_“He’s pouring his grief into his work” Mikan explained. “He doesn’t want us to see him weak. You have to be patient with him.”_

_But he hadn’t been. He’d been a teenager, full with conflicting emotions with the loss of his mother on top of it all, and patience hadn’t been his forte. And when Hiruzen had finally turned his attention back to his family, it had been already too late for Asuma._

_Their relationship stayed on a professional level ever since. Asuma lost interest in the reconnection and Hiruzen gave up after a while._

_And soon after that he’d gotten replaced._

_Asuma mentally shook his head. No. He wouldn’t blame someone who’d lost both of his parents for how shitty his own father was._

_“What is it, Lord Hokage?” Asuma asked, voice emotionless._

_The Hokage had his fingers folded and held his hands in front of his mouth. He was looking at the folder on his desk, a troubled shadow darkening his face._

_“I’m giving you a genin team.”_

_Asuma snorted._

_“You’re kidding.”_

_“Do you know me as someone who would make a joke out of this?”_

_Asuma shrugged._

_“I don’t know. Do I know you?”_

_Hiruzen glared at him for a second then pushed the folder towards him with one hand. Reluctantly, Asuma took it and looked inside. The first paper was Akimichi Chouji’s file. Expecting it to be a Nara and a Yamanaka on the next papers, Asuma looked at the other two. Then frowned._

_“A Hyuuga and a commoner girl? What’s that supposed to mean? Isn’t this going to be an Ino-Shika-Cho team?”_

_“I decided against it” the Hokage said simply._

_“And why? Won’t you anger three whole clans with a decision like that?”_

_“I already asked Chouza and Inoichi. They didn’t mind.” Then he added. “And I think Shikaku wouldn’t either.”_

_Asuma frowned at Hiruzen then turned back to the papers. Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura seemed to have good grades. Both of their written exams were great, and while Hinata’s taijutsu was in the top five of her class, Sakura had the second best chakra control. But they both lacked strength and stamina. Chouji on the other hand had the strength, but everything else was bad at._

_“What kind of team is this?” he asked in the end, out of pure curiosity and confusion._

_“A special case, you’ll see” Hiruzen said. “But I’d mainly like to talk with you about the Hyuuga girl. Do you know who she is?”_

_Asuma didn’t. He had to check her file._

_“Hyuuga Hiashi’s daughter. She’s the next head of the Hyuuga clan.”_

_“Not anymore. Hiashi disowned her.”_

_Asuma’s head shot up, eyes wide with disbelief._

_“He did what?”_

_“Hinata has the skills, but she’s too afraid to use them.” Hiruzen’s eyes darkened. “Especially when she’s pitted against her sister.”_

_Asuma flinched. Out of all the clans of Konoha - not counting the ones that completely or almost died out - the Hyuuga had the cruelest traditions. Not even the Uchiha had branded their members. They weren’t all good people, but at least they stuck together like any other normal clan should, if not more. And, in Asuma’s opinion, none of the Hyuuga was normal. He never voiced his thoughts though._

_“What do you want me to do? Train the girl so she can one day beat her sister?”_

_“So she can protect herself” Hiruzen corrected him. “I’m still trying to work things out with Hiashi, but in the meantime I need you to protect the girl.”_

_“From her own family?” Asuma shook his head. “Pardon my words, but it’s pretty fucked up.”_

_“It certainly is” Hiruzen nodded._

_Asuma frowned at the picture of the Hyuuga girl. Why him though? She would be safer with someone more skilled than him. Not that he didn’t have good skills, he was a Guardian Ninja after all, but someone with an ANBU past would be more suitable for the job. Like Kakashi._

_Unless…_

_“You’re using the ‘Hokage’s son’ card. To prevent them from doing anything while she’s in my team, aren’t you?” When he only got silence as an answer, meaning the Hokage was thinking exactly that, Asuma rolled his eyes, head turning towards the ceiling. “Unbelievable…”_

_“Asuma—”_

_“No, I don’t want to hear it” Asuma interrupted him. “I’m sick of your excuses.”_

_Asuma shut the folder loudly, slapped it under his left arm and took a cigarette from his pocket._

_“I accept this team, but don’t think I agreed because you asked me” he said as he lit his cigarette. “I don’t want this poor girl to be punished by her own family just because she doesn’t want to hurt her sister. I won’t even test them, no matter how good or bad they actually are. All the Hyuuga should be—”_

_“Asuma!” Hiruzen slapped his hand on the table. “No matter how much you don’t like it, we can’t force a clan to suddenly drop their traditions. You know they have a good reason to use the Caged Bird Curse Seal.”_

_Asuma snorted._

_“Yeah, to prevent the Byakugan to get into the enemy’s hands. Too bad Kiri somehow still got one. One might wonder if it’s really about protecting the Byakugan, or just to have total control over the branch family. If they were so afraid of losing an eye, Hiashi wouldn’t be a jounin.”_

_Asuma let out a puff of smoke then turned to leave._

_“Good talk, Lord Hokage. Now if you excuse me, I have some work to do.”_

_The fact that this had been the longest conversation just the two of them had in a very long time was saddening. But Asuma already had time to get used to it._

_Yeah._

_As he left the Hokage Tower, Asuma decided to make his way towards the Sarutobi clan’s compound. He hadn’t seen his sister in a while. And he hoped Mikan hadn’t been lurking in the shadows of the office during that clusterfuck of a conversation. He had no energy to sit through a lecture._

*****

Sakura was bouncing on her feet the next day as she made her way to the training grounds. She hadn’t felt this great in a long time. She was still unhappy about not being in the same team as Sasuke, but as she had been laying in her bed the other night she came to a conclusion: the next time she’d meet Sasuke, she’d be able to show him how much she’d changed for the better. She’d know new jutsus and she’d be so much stronger than the girl he remembered her as that he’d be truly amazed by her. Sakura let out a small giggle. Ino would be so jealous!

Listening to Asuma’s advice, she’d eaten a decent dinner. Her parents had been surprised, but when she’d explained herself, they both had had a smile on their faces.

“Oh, I remember when Asuma was just a boy” Mebuki had said. “What a mischievous kid he was! It’s amazing how a person can change when they’re through their teenage years.”

Sakura had a hard time believing that Asuma had been anything like how her mother had described him. She tried to imagine her sensei as a child acting like Naruto, but she couldn’t connect the two. Her mother must have been exaggerating.

She was walking down the main street of Konoha when she saw a familiar figure not so far from her walking out a gate.

“Chouji! Hey!”

Chouji stopped and turned towards her, a surprised expression was on his face as Sakura caught up with him.

“Morning” Sakura greeted him with a smile.

“Morning” Chouji said back, still a little stunned, and the two continued their way towards the training grounds.

“What do you think?” she started after a while. “What kind of test is Asuma-sensei planning for us?”

Chouji shrugged.

“No idea. I hope we won’t get graded. I’m not really good at anything.”

“Don’t say that!” Sakura told him as she patted his shoulder. “Remember what sensei told Hinata? We all have a purpose in this life, we only need to find it.”

The boy nodded and they didn’t continue talking until they got to the entrance of the training ground.

“Why were you on a diet?” Chouji asked, honest curiosity in his voice. “You’re not overweight or anything.”

Sakura just blinked for a few moments.

“It’s a—a girl thing.”

“But Hinata’s not on a diet and she’s a girl.”

“Hinata’s different.”

“How so?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Why?”

Sakura’s head was almost spinning as Chouji asked more and more questions. How could she explain so Chouji would understand…?

“Okay!” She stopped and turned to Chouji who also stopped walking. “So, there’s Sasuke and Naruto.”

“Sasuke and Naruto?” Chouji frowned.

“You know how they always try to be better than the other. They’re rivals. Girls are competing amongst themselves too but not with physical power like the boys. It’s more like a—I don’t know how to say it. So, there’s this goal for the girls, that—”

“Like getting Sasuke's attention?”

Sakura felt her cheeks getting red.

“Uhm, yeah, for example.” She coughed. “So the girls want to reach that goal, and they do everything to get it.”

Chouji frowned deeper.

“Like starving yourselves to get thinner? Or be mean to each other? To get Sasuke's attention, who’s mean to all of you?”

Sakura blinked. Now that he said it that way…

“And Hinata?” Chouji continued before she could finish that thought. “Why is she different?”

“Because...” she started, but she needed to stop and gather her thoughts before she could say anything. “She’s like… Shikamaru. In a way.”

“Shikamaru?”

“You know how he is. He’s not interested in rivalries. Neither is Hinata.”

“Because she doesn’t have the same goal as the rest of the girls so she doesn’t have to compete with anyone, but even if she had, she still wouldn’t, because she’s too kind to get into that kind of conflict?”

Sakura gaped for a while. How could Chouji say things like that with so much insight?

“Good morning.”

Sakura almost jumped as she spun around. Hinata stood a few steps away from them, a neatly wrapped box in her hands. She probably made food for them again.

“Hey, Hinata” Chouji said. “We were just talking about you.”

Oh, Heavens…

Hinata’s eyes slightly rounded and Sakura could easily see her eyelashes trembling.

“Really?” she asked with a small voice.

“Yes” Sakura said and put both of her hands on Hinata’s shoulders so she could look right into her eyes and Hinata to have a hard time looking anywhere but at her. “And we came to the conclusion that you are better than the rest of the girls, including me, because you’re always yourself unlike us who try to change ourselves and be mean to each other just to get a boy’s attention.”

“Oh…” Hinata stared at her with growing confusion. “Thank you? I guess?”

Sakura squeezed her shoulders then patted them as she stepped back.

“No problem.” She turned and continued their way to the center of the training ground. “Let’s go! Asuma-sensei is probably waiting for us.”

She could’ve said that they hadn’t been talking about Hinata, but then Chouji would’ve called her out on her lie and Hinata wouldn’t trust her anymore, so Sakura decided to tell her the truth. The three of them would be together for years now, they’d go on missions and have to work together. The lack of trust and honesty would lead to a disaster. Sakura didn’t want that. She had enough with those two. And she knew exactly how it felt when people were talking behind her back and deny it the moment they were face to face. And she didn’t want Hinata to go through that because of her. She didn’t want to be like those girls she’d had to deal with for years.

Sometimes she wondered if it wasn’t too late for her already.

Asuma was waiting for them, sitting on a rock, smoking in a so relaxed way like there was nothing to worry about in the world. He looked up as soon as they got there, a smile appearing on his face.

“Morning, guys. Ready for today?”

The three of them nodded and Asuma stood up.

“Alright then.” He dropped the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. “So as I said, I want to test your strengths and your weaknesses. A good team can only work if we are aware of these two in every member and build up a strategy where everyone can do their best but never drag down themselves or the team with their worst abilities. For example, I’m a close-range fighter. I’m good at taijutsu using my chakra blades, I can come up with strategies on the spot, and use my strength and speed to carry out those as efficiently as possible. However, I get tried fast, I’m not very skilled with ninjutsu, and easily mess up hand seals when there are more than four. So, for me there are two kinds of teams that fit well. A blitz team, meaning all members use their strongest attacks from the very beginning and aim to defeat their enemy as fast as they can. These teams are used for ambushes. Or a team where the likes of me have a lot of support in a form of a medic and a tank, someone who can protect to others while they’re out of energy and chakra. But there are many combinations, not just these two. We have time to come up with something that suits the three of you, no need to rush it. Rushing things will lead us to mistakes. And that would be devastating in the long run.”

Sakura took a deep breath as she processed all this information. This was not a play between kids, lives could be lost if a team didn’t work.

“Let’s start with this.”

Asuma took a scroll from one of his pockets and rolled it out on the ground. He made a few hand seals - Sakura saw that his movements were slower than she was used to, - touched the middle of the paper and after a puff of smoke four white dummies were in front of them.

“First, let’s test your physical strength.” Asuma took one of the dummies and pulled it further from the other three. “Punch it as strong as you can so we can see—”

Asuma took a step away from the dummy. He pulled his right hand back and punched it. The dummy didn’t move, but the place where Asuma’s fist connected with it turned to a deep shade of red.

“—how much strength it has.” He turned back to the three genin. “Choose a dummy and mark it so you would use the same next time. The color on it only changes when you managed to hit it harder.”

They hesitated for a moment before they each took a dummy and pulled it with them. They were surprisingly light, Sakura could easily move hers around, so she had no idea how it hadn’t fallen when Asuma hit it.

“Okay, guys! Ready! Go!”

Sakura clenched her fist and hit the dummy. Pulling back her hand she saw a green spot on its body.

She let out a long sigh. Yeah, she knew she wasn’t strong, but this was pathetic. Looking around she saw a yellowish green spot on Hinata’s dummy and a yellow spot on Chouji’s.

Yeah, she was pathetic.

“You shouldn’t close your fingers around your thumb” Asuma said as he stepped next to her. He took her hand in his so he could rearrange her fingers. “You would only break your thumb when your punches get harder. First roll in your four fingers, put your thumb before them, then flex it. It will make your fist more solid.”

Sakura looked at her hand in this position. It did feel different.

“See this knuckle?” Asuma pointed at her middle finger knuckle. “This is the bone you want to strike with. If you try to do it with your pinky or ring finger knuckles, you’ll break them.”

Asuma stepped back.

“Step away from the dummy for a bit.” When Sakura did, he continued. “Follow my lead. For a straight punch you need to twist your arm like this.” He showed Sakura a few slow strikes with the arm twist. “You can’t just pull back your arm and strike without twisting, because it will only strain the joints in your elbow.”

Sakura frowned. Why hadn’t she learnt about this before?

Like he was reading her mind, Asuma let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, there are a few things missing from the kunoichi curriculum, huh?”

Sakura practiced the movements a few times, Asuma correcting her when needed, then she turned back to her dummy and with her new knowledge she punched it again.

It certainly felt different. She felt muscles in her arm, shoulder and chest flexing like she hadn’t felt before. And when she moved away her hand the spot was still green but now it had a yellow shade in it.

“Good job” Asuma said with a nod. “Don’t let this sadden you. You’re still growing and with the proper training your muscles will get stronger.”

Sakura thanked Asuma for the help before he walked to Hinata. Sakura fixed her eyes on the green spot on the dummy then pulled back her hand again. She’d do her best to get stronger, no matter what.

*****

They were punching the dummies for two more hours before Asuma decided it was time for a lunch break. The three genin collapsed in the shadow of a nearby tree, resting for a bit with their backs against the trunk.

Hinata felt like her arm was burning. Her body was used to precise and quick strikes with the tips of her fingers, not punches with her fist. Her clan’s Gentle Fist style didn’t need strength. But if she really wanted to be a ninja, she had to become stronger. Weaklings like her were the first to fall in a battle.

If she’d ever be strong enough to be sent to a battle.

She heard a rumbling to her left. Looking there she saw Chouji’s face twisting as he put a hand on his stomach.

Hinata quickly reached for her box.

“I’m so sorry!” she said. “I brought some anpan. Here.”

She opened the box and lifted it towards Chouji. The boy took a roll and inhaled it in one bite. As he was chewing his lips were pressed together forcefully and his face was getting redder. Hinata felt fear rising inside her. What if she’d messed it up? What if she’d put something in it she shouldn’t have?

Sakura leaned forward and as she took an anpan too she whispered to Chouji.

“We won’t tell your mother.”

Chouji swallowed and took a deep breath.

“Thank you.” He then looked at Hinata. “This is the best anpan I’ve ever had.”

Hinata dropped her gaze and hid the lower half of her face behind her headband. She felt her cheeks heating up.

“Thank you.”

“It’s really good” Asuma said as he sat down before them with an anpan in his hand too. “You have a great talent for cooking, I can see that.”

They continued eating in silence. Once they saw a fire ball rising above the trees, but Asuma waved his hand saying something about somebody called Kakashi and his ‘survival training’.

“Sensei” Chouji spoke up after a while. “What are your plans after you see our strengths and weaknesses?”

Hinata turned to look at their sensei with curiosity.

Asuma swallowed the last bite of his food before he answered.

“We’ll mix things up a bit” he said with a smirk in the corner of his lips.

Hinata frowned and she could see the others were confused too.

“Let me explain.” He pointed at them one by one. “Sakura is a commoner girl, Hinata has the Byakugan and Chouji has the Akimichi clan’s secret jutsu. Sakura will be looked down for not having any bloodline based jutsu, and Hinata and Chouji’s techniques will be known to everyone. So, I’m going to teach you some techniques that nobody would see coming from the three of you, so you can surprise them with an unexpected attack. For example, the Hyuuga clan’s signature taijutsu style is the Gentle Fist. With a single touch at the right spot they can stop the chakra circulation in that area. But if Hinata suddenly jumps up and uses a drop kick, the enemy would be so surprised that they wouldn’t be able to block the attack in time. The more surprise attacks you have, the more chance you’ll have to win in a fight.”

Hinata was embarrassed that she was used as an example, but there was truth in Asuma’s words. They really needed to learn more. Konoha was at peace right now, but there was the chance of a wartime coming somewhere in the future. In the last hundred years there were already three wars between the five nations, and some older ninjas of Konoha had fought in two at least. Just one simple conflict could grow out to be a war. And they would be on the front lines too, no matter how inexperienced they were.

Hinata fought back a shiver. She didn’t want to think about those kinds of what if’s.

“Alright, guys!” Asuma stood up and the three did the same. “We’ll continue with some basics. Like climbing this tree without your hands.”

Hinata looked up at the tree. It was the tallest in the area, its branches cast a great shadow under it.

“How?” Chouji asked.

Asuma smiled at them.

“I’ll show you.”

*****

Chouji was out of breath when they finally finished and he was on his way home. Gathering chakra into his feet and walking up a tree turned out to be harder than punching a dummy. Sakura had been the best of them, reaching the top of the tree on her first try so Asuma had told her to try the same on water. She’d sunk into the pond to her knees many times and had had to walk home with the bottom of her cloths dripping. Hinata had been able to hold herself in one place before she sled down and Chouji… Let’s just say Chouji’s back hurt like hell.

He’d almost given up after the first few times but Asuma had reassured him that he'd been doing great.

“I couldn’t do it on my first try either” he’d told him. “I needed to practice for days before I could hold myself up without falling down. Practice and never give up. That’s the key to learning anything.”

Chouji sighed. Yeah, Asuma had been talking from experience, but that hadn’t helped a lot in Chouji’s case.

“Hey, Chouji!”

Chouji turned and saw Naruto coming his way. He was covered in mud but he looked happy.

“What happened to you?” Chouji asked.

Naruto looked down at himself.

“You see, our sensei gave us this survival mission and we had to do it without eating and I was so hungry then we had to work together and Shikamaru came up with this plan and even Sasuke listened to him then we passed the test. And you? How did you do?”

Chouji shrugged.

“Good, I guess. We were punching dummies and climbing a tree.”

Naruto groaned.

“Boring!” he said, stretching out every syllable. “We were fighting with Kakashi-sensei!”

No wonder, Chouji thought. Naruto’s team had everything a good team needed. Shikamaru’s intelligence, Naruto’s stamina and Sasuke’s skills. They would probably turn out to be the best team of their class.

“I must go now” Naruto suddenly said and ran away, waving back at Chouji. “See ya!”

Chouji watched his retreating back for a while, then continued his way home.

He knew he was the weak link in his team. Hinata was great in taijutsu and Sakura was smart. What was he apart from being big? Nothing. Yes, he could make his fists bigger and hit harder, but what else was he good at? Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Good for nothing.

Chouji let out a sigh.

“What’s up, son?”

Chouji took down his sandals when he entered the house.

“Nothing really. I’m tired.”

Chouza watched him as Chouji walked past him.

“Your mother just finished cooking. Take a shower then come eat.”

Chouji nodded, but then he stopped.

“Dad?” After he heard his father’s hum he continued. “Am I going to be a good ninja?”

He heard Chouza walking next to him, then a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Only time will tell. But if you ever doubt yourself, turn to your teammates and sensei for guidance. They’ll help you when you feel lost.”

Chouji nodded then continued his way to his room.

If only he could believe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love love love this team! This is the ultimate support team :D I’m looking forward to writing about their journey to become the ninjas I envisioned them to be. They won’t be just bystanders, they’ll all have a purpose. And Sakura WILL BE useful, and generally all of them would turn out to be better than in canon. Or I hope so.
> 
> Also, I watched and studied a lot of tutorials on YouTube about how to punch. You can seriously injure yourself if you don’t do it right, so just carefully while you’re still learning!
> 
> Asuma. And. Hiruzen. Deserved. More. Development. In. Canon. Period. Just think about all the conflict it would come with! In moments like these I can't help but wonder what Naruto would've been like if it was character and not plot driven... Ugh... Also Asuma may seem harsh, especially how he talks about his team in the flashback, but he’s a good teacher, you’ll see.
> 
> The Hyuuga clan issue. I never really understood it to be honest. Why brand the branch house? Shouldn’t the main house also protect their Byakugan? Why did they let Hinata go to the Academy or anywhere else if she’s from the main house and doesn’t have the seal? How did Hiashi become a jounin while he’s from the main house and don’t have the seal? Because he first had to be a genin then a chuunin before he became a jounin. Even Naruto had to accomplish a lot (saving the whole world, for example) before he was promoted. Either the main house is a bunch of control freaks by tradition (which I deeply believe in), or a bunch of idiots (which I also believe).
> 
> Also please welcome the first OC, Sarutobi Mikan. I have no idea what's going on in Boruto and if the 'Konohamaru's father is that bad guy with the mask' theory is true (or the Jiraiya theory, as it seems after I looked it up), but I don't really care about it. It always bothered me that the only thing we knew about Konohamaru's parents is that they're both ANBU and nothing else. At least they should've been there at Hiruzen's then Asuma's funeral...
> 
> Team 10 is coming up next, and oh boy…


	4. Genin – The New Teams – Version 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is my favorite chapter so far, and I think it will be in the Top I-Don’t-Know for a long time. At first I had no idea what to do with this team. They truly had nothing in common, apart from both Ino and Kiba being stubborn and loud. But it just suddenly clicked while I was writing and here it is :D

Kurenai knew from the very first moment that this team was doomed. Who’d had the bright idea to put the spoiled Yamanaka heiress - she hoped Inoichi wasn’t reading her mind, - and the bratty Inuzuka kid - she really hoped Tsume couldn’t read her mind - in the same team? Add an Aburame who didn’t speak a lot but when he did he sounded strange and awkward like he wasn’t used to speaking his mind - she knew that even if Shibi could read her mind he would simply shrug at that and go on with his day - and you have a disaster.

Someone really wanted her to have a headache.

She was just promoted to be a jounin. It was always her dream to become a teacher and guide the next generation of ninjas. But she wasn’t sure she was really ready to start her teaching career with a team like this.

Ino and Kiba outright ignored each others’ existence and Shino sat next to them like the tension between the two wasn’t there. Or maybe he just ignored the two of them, she wasn’t sure.

But one thing she was certain about: If this thing between the kids wouldn’t change in the very near future, she would send them back to the Academy.

“What?!” Ino jumped up from her seat when Kurenai told them. The three genin were sitting on one of the benches just outside the Academy. They couldn’t get farther than that. “You can’t do that!”

“Of course I can.” Kurenai crossed her arms and looked down at the girl. “It’s my decision if I want to teach you or not. And right now I don’t really want to.”

Ino was about to say something but Kurenai silenced her with a look. The girl sat down with a pout.

“As I was saying, I don’t really want to teach you guys. Unless there are some drastic changes.”

“For example?” Kiba asked.

“For example.” Kurenai pointed at Kiba then at Ino. “You two must put away your differences. If you want this team to have a future, you need to work together.”

Kiba huffed.

Ino rolled her eyes.

Shino pushed his sunglasses higher on the bridge his nose.

Kurenai let out a long breath and counted to ten before she said anything.

“Meet me here tomorrow at noon. We’ll do an exercise.”

“What kind of exercise?” Ino asked, brows furrowing with suspicion.

A smile appeared on Kurenai’s face.

“The kind of exercise where it depends on the result whether I’ll waste my time with you bunch or we say goodbye to each other.”

This comment made both Ino and Kiba angry but they didn’t say anything. Shino simply nodded and stood up.

“See you tomorrow, Kurenai-sensei” he said with a bow then walked away.

Kiba huffed and left, and soon Ino did the same too.

Kurenai let out a long breath again and thought through what she was planning tomorrow. She needed something that would put these three in a situation where they needed to work together. Something that was a bit cruel, because only this few minutes with her new team annoyed the hell out of her, and they needed some punishment for that.

Why couldn’t her team be like Asuma’s? She’d seen them leaving the Academy together and they seemed to be so polite it was insane. She wanted a team like that. But no, she got this disaster. Fortunately it was her who would decide whether she wanted to teach them or not. And if they’d fail her little exercise the next day, she’d send them back to the Academy, Inoichi and Tsume’s anger be damned.

*****

Shino was the first to arrive to the bench but he didn’t sit down. He walked to the little stone fence and started watching the plants, looking for insects to observe.

His father had been cool about Kurenai’s threat the other day when he’d told him everything.

“Understandable” Shibi had said. “A team can’t work without trusting and respecting each other.” He’d turned back to the beetles, but paused after a moment. “But there’s something unusual about this team. The Inuzuka I understand, their clan and our clan are both great in scouting and tracking enemy movements. But the Yamanaka? What is she doing in this team? They are best at interrogation and infiltration. The two doesn’t really seem to fit.”

“The other teams don’t make sense either” Shino had agreed. “Hyuuga Hinata, Akimichi Chouji and Haruno Sakura. Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru.”

Shibi had paused and frowned.

“They had the opportunity to have an Ino-Shika-Chou team but they were put in different teams?”

Shibi had crossed his arms, staring at the beetles.

Shino had watched his father as he motionlessly stood there for a long while, then he had hummed as he nodded and continued on with his work.

Shino hadn’t been questioning his father’s behavior. Aburame Shibi was in the Village Council for more than a decade now, he knew how the politics of Konoha worked. So it was not a surprise that he had found logic in this year’s team arrangements.

Knowing his father, Shino hadn’t asked about it. He wouldn’t get answers anyway from him. He’d find out the reasons eventually, he just had to keep an open eye on everything in the following months or even years.

But for that they first had to be accepted by their sensei.

Shino had known Kurenai since he was born. He hadn’t seen her much, but she and her old teammates had visited their old sensei from time to time when none of them were busy or on missions. The last time was when Kurenai had been promoted to be a jounin a few months ago.

One would say there was no ulterior reasoning behind the process of arranging the genin into groups of three, but it was also interesting to look at which jounin was assigned to the teams. Like Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Third Hokage, becoming the sensei of Hinata, an important member of the Hyuuga clan.

“I wasn’t following you!”

Shino looked up and turned to the source of the voice. Kiba and Ino were approaching the Academy together while engaging in a heated argument. Akamaru was walking next to Kiba, visibly unsettled by their interaction.

“Then why did you use the same road as me!?” Ino shouted.

“Because I live that way too!”

“Impossible! We’re certainly not living in the same area!”

“You won’t tell me where I can or cannot live!”

“If you live in my neighborhood, I damn well have a say in it!”

Shino pushed his glasses higher on his nose.

“You should stop arguing” he said when the two got to him. “Why? Because Kurenai-sensei would send us all back to the Academy if you don’t do so.”

Ino crossed her arms and huffed.

“She can’t do that. I’m the best student of the class and the future head of the Yamanaka clan.”

Kiba snorted at that.

“There she is again, Princess Ino abusing her position as a clan heiress.”

It wasn’t entirely true, but Shino didn’t say anything. Ino was the best of their class, excelling in most of the subjects taught at the Academy. She had never disrespected any of their teachers and they treated her and the whole class equally. Or the part of the class that studied and showed a proper behavior. Which Kiba never did. He, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji had gotten into a lot of trouble at the Academy, of course the teachers treated them differently, and of course Kiba would think Ino was favored by them.

Ino’s cheeks turned red with anger.

“How dare you—”

She was interrupted by a swirl of leaves flying past her. The leaves settled on the bench then the wind picked them up again after a moment. And they left behind a piece of paper.

Ino quickly picked it up and read it.

“Meet me in your classroom.” Ino looked up at them. “Why the classroom? Weren’t we supposed to meet the sensei here?”

Kiba shrugged and made his way to the entrance.

“Maybe she changed her mind.”

Ino looked back at the paper with a frown. She looked troubled.

“Something feels off.”

Shino looked at the paper too. It was simple, a plain white piece of paper, nothing indicated that anything was wrong with it.

“We should follow him” Shino said and turned to walk after Kiba. “I’d rather stay with him then let him wander off and get into trouble.”

He heard Ino letting out a sigh behind him before she followed.

They caught up to Kiba fast. He was standing at the entrance hall, looking around with a frown.

“Isn’t there supposed to be someone at the door?” he asked.

“Maybe they didn’t arrive yet?” Ino suggested. “It’s a school break after all, the new semester only starts next week.”

“Then the door wouldn’t be open” Shino pointed out.

“But Kurenai-sensei said she’d meet us in the classroom” Ino countered. “Maybe she left the door open for us.”

Shino found it a logical answer and simply nodded before they walked up the stairs to the next floor where their old classroom was.

Their journey up was eerily quite, the complete opposite of what they were used to. The boards under their feet creaked with each step they took towards their destination. Shino found himself listening closely to the tiniest sounds but apart from the noises they made there was nothing.

“Guys. Stop.”

Ino let out an annoyed groan and looked back at Kiba.

“What?”

Kiba was looking around, sniffing the air in every direction.

“I don’t smell anything.”

Shino frowned.

Odd. The members of the Inuzuka clan had a nose as developed as the dogs’ they were keeping. They smelled the faintest things any other human nose would never detect. The fact that Kiba couldn’t smell anything was surprising and concerning at the same time, considering that they were inside the Academy where hundreds were passing by daily.

“And?” Ino asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “Maybe you caught a cold or something.”

Kiba shook his head slowly, so taken aback by his earlier discovery that he didn’t even try to argue with Ino.

“No, it’s different. I can still smell when I’m ill, but this feels like the whole Academy is completely sterile.”

He was turning around, searching every corner of the corridor, then he froze.

“Where’s Akamaru?”

Shino stepped a bit to the left so Kiba wouldn’t block the view of the corridor. And indeed, there was no sight of the dog.

“Akamaru!” Kiba yelled.

There was no answering bark, but that was not what made Shino’s brows to rise.

“There’s no echo.”

Ino lifted her hands a little, eyes fixed on the corridor with deep concentration, then clapped.

Nothing.

Shino lifted up a finger and waited. One of his bugs should soon crawl out from the cover of his sleeve. Any moment.

Nothing.

“Oh, shit…” Ino muttered, making Shino and Kiba to turn to her direction.

Ino had a hand over her mouth, eyes still roaming the corridor.

“I know what this is…”

*****

She should’ve realized it the moment she picked up the paper. She should’ve realized the slight change of chakra inside her circulation. It was so obvious, yet she hadn’t paid enough attention to it.

“We’re in a genjutsu” she told the others. “We’re in a damn genjutsu!”

She should really calm herself down before she’d start swearing like crazy, but damn it, she was so frustrated! Ino had spent her whole life studying about the human mind, how the hell hadn’t she known they walked right into an illusion!?

Damn it!

“Alright, guys, I know what to do.” She formed a tiger seal with her hands. “I’m going to use a Genjutsu Kai. By stopping my chakra flow and disrupting it with a stronger force than the genjutsu, I can get out of it. And when I get out, I’ll do the same to you.”

“Can’t you just do it to us now?” Kiba asked.

“That won’t work. We may be next to each other now, sharing the same illusion, but our bodies can be laying anywhere motionless. I need direct contact to help you two.”

She didn’t wait for any response. She closed her eyes and turned her full attention towards her chakra circulation. She felt it flowing all around her body, distorted by the jutsu that had been cast on her. But this would end now. There was no genjutsu that could keep a Yamanaka in its grasp. She hadn’t spent her whole life training her mind and chakra control to be defeated by a genjutsu.

“Kai!” she said.

Her circulation stopped.

She flashed up a great amount of chakra.

Her circulation trembled and started flowing again.

Ino opened her eyes.

She was still in the illusion with Kiba and Shino.

“Oh for fu—!”

“Ino, what the hell!” Kiba slapped his hand on her mouth before she could finish it. “Notch down the swearing!”

Ino hit Kiba’s hand away.

“I swear as much as I want when I’m this ANGRY!” she shouted. “It didn’t work!”

“Kurenai-sensei is a master of genjutsu” Shino said. “The best in the village.”

Ino and Kiba turned to Shino at the same time, both of them staring at their teammate.

“How do you know that?” Kiba asked.

“She was my father’s student.”

“And you only decided to tell us now because?” Ino took a step towards him, eyes blazing.

“Because you never asked.”

Ino threw her hands up, then turned away from the two boys when her palms settled on the top of her head. She had enough with these guys. She was almost at the point that she wouldn’t even care if she was sent back to the Academy. She didn’t want to stay with these two in a team anymore.

But first she had to get out somehow.

“Okay, new plan.” She spun back to face the others. “I’m going to punch Kiba—”

“Why me?!” said boy complained.

“Because pain is an other solution to escape a genjutsu!”

“But you said our bodies may be motionless!”

“Want to test it?!” Ino was already curling up her fingers into a tight fist.

“Just say that you want to punch something and I’ll introduce you to a nice surface!”

“Like that?” Shino asked, pointing at something behind Ino.

Looking that way, Kiba’s eyes widened and he slowly started to back away. Frowning, Ino slowly turned around.

And her breath caught.

“Oh shit…”

At the end of the corridor stood a human shaped… something. It was black from head to toe, and though it was motionless, the blackness that covered it seemed to be moving.

“What the heck is that thing?” Kiba asked, voice low.

“It’s…” Shino started, but then he paused to swallow. Ino had never heard him this unsettled before. “It’s from an old Aburame tale. The Jorougumo.”

“I’ll regret asking this but… what does the tale say?” Ino asked.

The three of them slowly started to back away from the creature. The Jorougumo didn’t move, but Ino could feel it following them with its eyes, wherever those were or how many there were.

“Aburame Jorougumo was one of the first of the Aburame clan who became the host of insects.”

Ino swallowed down the bile that she felt crawling up her throat after hearing that.

“But Jorougumo made a deal with the wrong creatures and she was consumed by them.”

“And I will definitely regret this… What kind of creatures were they?”

Like it was just waiting for this question, eight tendrils grew out from the figure’s back. When they reached the ground, they lifted up the figure, and it eerily reminded Ino of—

“Spiders.”

The Jorougumo decided in that exact moment to rush at them.

Ino felt her mouth opening to a scream, but Kiba grabbed her hand and started pulling her with him. Shino ran next to them, which Ino had never really seen him do before.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck!” Ino repeated again and again, heart hammering in her chest. “This is just an illusion, this is just an illusion!”

“Do you want to test it?!” Kiba yelled at her.

“Hell no!”

“Then run faster!”

The faster they ran, the farther away the end of the corridor seemed to be from them. The Jorougumo was catching up to them and Ino was sure she wouldn’t be able to run like this for long. Her legs were getting heavier and breathing was becoming harder too.

“I… I can’t…” Her lungs, her side, and every muscle in her legs, they were all aching and burning. Illusion or not, it was horribly realistic, and in real life she wasn’t used to this kind of exercise.

There was a pull on her hand, and in a blink she found herself above the ground then on Kiba’s back. Ino, stunned by this, grabbed onto his shoulder like her life was depending on it, while Kiba put his arms under her knees, securing her on his back.

“Shino! What do we do?!”

Shino didn’t answer. He looked paler than usual and his hands were clenched into fists.

“Shino!” Kiba yelled at him.

Trembling a little, Shino finally turned to Kiba.

“I have no idea. I always hated this tale.”

“Wonderful… Do any of you know any fire style jutsu? Maybe we can burn it.”

“No” Ino answered.

Kiba, clearly scandalized by this answer, turned a little bit back to look at Ino.

“What do you mean you don’t know?! Aren’t you supposed to be the best of the class?!”

“It means my chakra nature is not compatible with this nature transformation, you dumbass! Did you sleep through that class too or were you skipping it?!”

Kiba snarled a bit.

“Then what kind of nature do you have?”

“Yin.”

“The fuck is a Yin?!”

Ino hit Kiba’s shoulder in anger.

“I’m not giving you a lecture while we’re running for our lives!”

If they had the time, Ino would’ve strangled Kiba for how obnoxious he was sometimes. He wasn’t a good student, he made nasty jokes, and was generally unpleasant to be around. She had no idea why anyone would think they would work well together in the same team.

If only Sasuke was her teammate instead of Kiba! That would’ve been wonderful. But no, Sasuke got the all boys team, and while Sakura was neither Sasuke’s teammate, at least both Chouji and Hinata were kind and normal. And there she was, stuck with these two.

“I need Akamaru for most of my jutsus, so I’m out too. Shino?”

Shino shook his head.

“I need my bugs. And I don’t think any jutsu would work inside a genjutsu.”

Ino let out a groan. Shino made a good point.

“We’re so screwed…”

Kiba moved his head around, his hood pressing into Ino’s face uncomfortably.

“Then we need to use whatever we find.”

“You think we can beat this Jorougumo with a mop?”

But Kiba was ignoring her and instead looked at Shino.

“Shino! Turn left when I say ‘now’!”

Ino looked to their left. There was nothing, just closed doors.

“Wha—”

“NOW!”

They made a sharp turn to the left. Ino had to grab onto Kiba’s neck to not fall off his back. Looking at the direction they were going, there was nothing, just the wall of the corridor and a closed door.

“KIBA, WHAT THE F—?!”

Ino prepared herself to the impact but it never came. They went through the closed door like it was never there.

“Haha!” Kiba said, head held high. “I knew it! This was the only place any smell was coming from.”

Ino climbed off Kiba’s back as soon as he let go of her legs. She was standing on shaking legs, but she had enough strength left to not fall on her knees.

They were still at the Academy, on an empty corridor once again, but fortunately the Jorougumo was nowhere to be seen. The only difference was that it was already dark outside.

“I hate this genjutsu” Ino said and rubbed her arms.

She really wanted to get out of here.

*****

Kiba sniffed the air again. The trail that led them there was already gone.

“I think we need to search the whole corridor if we want to get out of here” he said. “I can only smell the exit when we get closer to it.”

Ino looked up and down the corridor. He didn’t know how much she could see. Only the moon provided some light for them.

“What do you think, Shino?” she asked. “Where should we start?”

No answer.

“Shino?”

At first Kiba thought Shino was gone just like Akamaru, but then he noticed him sitting on the floor, back against the wall, forehead in his hands.

Kiba and Ino stepped to him almost at the same time, crouching or kneeling down next to him.

“Shino?”

Ino gently put a hand on his shoulder. Kiba was a bit surprised by her action. Ino always acted like she was a princess or something, and only cared about those who praised her. But here she was, caring about a teammate she didn’t want.

“I’m fine” said Shino.

“You don’t look fine to me, man.” Kiba shook his head. “That Jorougumo really did scare the shit out of you.”

Shino huffed.

“I told you I hated that story.”

Ino rubbed his shoulder one last time, then stood up, looking around the corridor again.

“What do you think? Where should we go?”

Shino let out a long sigh then stood up. His legs were shaking a bit, so Kiba stayed close to him in case he was falling back.

“There’s nothing extraordinary at first glance.” Shino stepped away from the wall.

And then he lifted his sunglasses.

Kiba had never seen Shino without his glasses, no matter what time of the day it was, or if they were inside a building. Kiba had guessed in their first year at the Academy that Shino was blind, but he could write down everything that was on the blackboard and always hit his mark with a shuriken or a kunai. And now seeing his whole face, there was nothing out of place. He had average shaped dark eyes, so the sunglasses weren’t for hiding any scars or anything like that.

But not only Shino wore sunglasses. Every Aburame Kiba had ever seen had them and they also never removed them. Was it some kind of tradition like face paint was in his clan?

“There’s a door with a knob on it” Shino said, pointing somewhere behind Kiba. Looking at that direction, Kiba only saw the corridor fading into darkness.

“How do you know?” Ino asked. “You have night vision or something?”

Shino put back his sunglasses and pushed them higher on the bridge of his nose.

“Something like that.”

And without any more explanation he started walking towards the door he saw.

Kiba and Ino were close behind him, keeping an eye on the shadows of the corridor. Kiba didn’t want to meet a Jorougumo ever again. He really hoped it was really just an Aburame tale and not real.

At the idea that a thing like that could be real cold ran down his spine and he trembled.

“KIBA!”

“What?!” he snapped, turning to Ino with a frown. “Stop yelling!”

Ino looked taken aback by this.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“KIBA!”

Kiba froze.

Oh no…

No, no, no…

Ino and Shino stopped too, looking for the source of the voice, but it seemed like it was coming from every direction.

It was a woman’s voice. She was shouting, the words merging together so it was not understandable. Only his name was.

Kiba put his hands on his ears.

He didn’t want to hear it at the Academy too.

This place was safe, almost sacred.

The shouting couldn’t follow him here.

He couldn’t bear to hear it here too.

The shouting couldn’t enter this building.

But it was here and the doors and the windows were shaking and the shouting would soon be louder and he couldn’t—

He felt a sharp pain in his shin and he doubled over. Luckily he landed on his palm instead of his face, but damn it hurt a lot!

“What the fuck, Ino?!”

Ino looked at him with wide eyes, leg still raised like she was about to kick him again.

“It’s using our fears” she said like she didn’t hear him. She put down her foot and turned to Shino. “You said you hated the Jorougumo story, right? Are you still afraid of it?”

Kiba, still angry at Ino for kicking him, turned to look at Shino. He put his hands in his pockets and lowered his head, so the bottom half of his face was more in the cover of his coat.

“Yes.”

“And you.” Ino directed her words to Kiba now. “You’re afraid of… people shouting angrily at you?”

Kiba huffed.

“Something like that.”

Ino bit her lower lip and looked at the ceiling. She was blinking fast and she was taking deep breaths.

“Then it’s my turn I guess…”

Kiba stood up and rubbed his aching leg. He had to admit the pain cleared up his mind a bit and the shouting finally stopped.

Still, Ino kicked him.

But she stopped the shouting.

Still conflicted by this, Kiba walked to the door Shino was talking about. It really had a strange knob. It looked like a flower, the petals pointy and probably sharp. Who would ever make a knob like that?

He almost rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. A crazy vengeful sensei, of course, that was who.

“What are you afraid of?” Shino asked.

Ino started rubbing her arms, her eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

“It’s… complex.”

“In what way?” Kiba asked.

“It’s uhm… the combination of smaller ones…?”

Ino suddenly let out a shout that took Kiba completely off guard. He took a step back and watched Ino stomping to the door like she just lost her mind.

“I won’t let you intimidate me! I’m getting out of this genjutsu even if I have to claw myself out of my fucking brain!”

Yep. Ino totally lost her mind.

Ino almost broke the door in half as she opened it and marched into the room with so much confidence that Kiba and Shino had no choice but follow her.

But almost immediately bumped into her back because she stopped only a few steps away from the door like her feet were rooted into the floor.

They found themselves in the middle of a wake.

Both to the left and the right people dressed in black were kneeling. Kiba didn’t see any of their faces, they were all hidden in shadows. Periodically a bell was hit, making a high ping sound. That was the only noise that broke the silence. On the far side of the room was a person covered with a white sheet. And on the other side of that—

“That must be our way out” Shino guessed. “We have to go there.”

Kiba walked in front of Ino. She had her eyes shut so tight, her brows were drawn close together.

“We have to go there” Kiba told her. “We need to get out.”

Ino was shaking her head, her ponytail swaying left and right. Gone was the confidence she’d shown not even a minute ago.

“I don’t want to see it…”

Kiba let out a long breath and helplessly looked at Shino. He had no idea how to deal with this. He was bad with feelings and stuff. He usually left those things to Hana.

Thankfully Shino, despite him probably being just as bad as Kiba, stepped forward and took Ino’s hand in his.

“You don’t have to look. We’ll walk you there.”

Ino nodded and reached out with her other hand. Kiba took it without hesitation and the three of them made their way between the mourning crowd.

They were careful with their steps. They didn’t know if anything would attack them, but Kiba thought it was unlikely. Ino was probably afraid of funerals, or maybe death as a concept. And this whole room was already grim as hell, it didn’t need a jump scare.

Speaking of jumping, every time the ping sound was heard, Ino’s grip momentarily tightened around his hand. After a while every time it happened Kiba squeezed her hand or brushed his thumb over her skin.

It took them about two minutes to get to the other side. They only needed to get past the body covered with the white sheet.

“We’re out in a minute” he said as they walked past the body.

Ino was about to nod when a gust of wind blew through the room. The three of them had to step closer to each other to not be blown away too like the black crowd. The people in the crowd turned into dust that whirled all around them. Only the white sheet stayed in place.

Until the person under it suddenly sat up.

“Holy—”

The person pulled the sheet off their head and it joined the crowd in the form of white dust. By the shape of them it was a woman. She had shoulder length blond hair and a thin figure, and she almost looked like…

Kiba’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

The woman turned around to look at them. But only her head turned, the rest of her body still faced the other direction. Her blue eyes were blood shot and hollow, her cheeks purple and blue like she was hit by something hard.

And she looked just like Ino.

“What happened, Kiba? What is it?”

Kiba hadn’t realized he stopped to stare at the woman. And now Ino was about to turn back to look at him and then she’d see—

Kiba quickly stepped behind Ino, putting his hands on both sides of her head, preventing her from looking back.

“Kiba, what the—?!”

“Just keep going!”

Kiba glanced back. The woman was still looking at them and she still looked like Ino. Her mouth was moving but her voice was lost in the chaos around them. Kiba could see that she was missing a few teeth and blood was spilling over her lower lip.

Kiba shared a look with Shino. He had seen the similarities too and while his expression didn’t show anything, Shino started pulling Ino faster towards the exit while Kiba pushed her forward.

“Just straight ahead! We’re almost out!”

Three more steps…

Two more steps…

One more step…

*****

Ino gasped.

Kurenai looked down at her with an unreadable face.

“Welcome back, children. How did you like the genjutsu?”

Ino’s mind was still a mess. Her surroundings just slowly made sense to her. She was sitting on the bench where they had been supposed to meet their sensei. Kiba sat on her right with a sleeping Akamaru on his lap, Shino sat on her left. And they were holding hands.

“What was that for?” Kiba asked, putting his free hand on his dog like he was making sure Akamaru was really there.

“A lesson all of you had to learn” Kurenai looked over the three of them. “You are not special, none of you are above the other. The three of you are just kids with fears, and there’s nothing that makes you better” here she looked at Ino and Kiba, “and you don’t have any right to ignore the others” here she turned to Shino. “You three are a team. One of you gets hurt, all of you get hurt. One of you dies, all of you die. You share your pain and your success. I’ll only teach you if you are ready to put away your differences and work like a single person in mind and soul.”

Ino felt a vein on her forehead pulsing in anger.

“That wasn’t a lesson. This was cruel and unethical.”

Kurenai raised a brow.

“A ninja has to be cruel and unethical if they want to survive.” She pointed at Ino’s Konoha forehead protector, which she wore as a belt. She would not deal with all the tangles and broken hair it could cause if she wore it on her head. “Your careless childhood with all those fluffy dreams ended the moment you became a genin. Welcome to the world of cruel adults with even crueler ambitions.”

Ino dropped her gaze. This reminded her to a conversation she’d had with her father years ago.

“I don’t want you to be a ninja” her father had said the morning of her first day at the Academy. Ino had been sitting on the floor, legs crossed, while her father had been behind her, brushing her hair. It used to be a morning routine throughout her whole childhood, but nowadays neither of them had the time to just sit around. “The life of a ninja can be cruel, especially for a kunoichi. The wrong experiences can make one’s life go down a completely different path than planned. And I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“Don’t worry, Dad!” Ino had leaned back against her father’s chest and had looked up with a wide smile. “Nothing bad will happen to me, trust me.”

This conversation had happened years ago, but her father’s words stayed with her ever since. He’d known what he was talking about, he’d been a ninja for decades now, had fought in wars too, he was also the head of the Analysis Team of the Konoha Intelligence Division. He’d seen things, he’d lived through things. If he gave someone an advice, they’d better listen to it.

But Ino was known for her stubbornness. When she set her mind on a goal, she wouldn’t back down until she reached it. She’d find the best solution and would work her ass off. Maybe she wasn’t as intelligent as Shikamaru, but he was lazy as hell. Who knew what would’ve happened if Shikamaru hadn’t been that laid back and they’d been in the same team. Wow, that would’ve been ruthless.

Maybe in an other universe or an other timeline that would’ve been the case. Or she would’ve been teammates with Sasuke, or anyone else. Or there would’ve been an Ino-Shika-Cho team like in every generation of clan heirs. But this wasn’t those realities. She was teammates with an Aburame and an Inuzuka.

Yes, there was a shiver running down her spine every time she saw a bug, the nastier the worse. Yes, she didn’t like the smell of some animals, especially wet dogs.

And yes, she was a pain when others had to work with her. She was aware that her personality was too much for a lot of people, sometimes even for herself. She just… couldn’t help it. If somebody rubbed her the wrong way, she could turn into the nastiest person ever. She knew Kiba hated her guts and Shino only tolerated her.

But she had to admit, that they worked well together.

Kiba wasn’t the smartest of their class, but he had great reflexes and senses. His strength and stamina was also good. Shino was among the top students, only Ino and Sasuke had better marks than him. He could keep his calm attitude in any situation and – while she still hated them – the bugs were useful too.

And they’d been… so compassionate with her when she’d refused to see that horrible place. They’d taken her hand and guided her through the room without complaining. None of them had laughed at the others’ fears and it was… an eye opening experience. She had to admit that she hadn’t expected that from them, not even from herself.

Maybe… they could be a good team with some work…

“There’s two options for each of you” Kurenai continued. “One, you can say goodbye to ever becoming a ninja. We’ll never see each other again and you continue your lives as a civilian while I look for other genins who actually want to be something. Or two. You decide to stay ninjas and train and learn. But I’m only teaching you if you’re willing to change.”

Ino watched Kurenai, searching her features. She had a casual expression, but her gaze was like an inferno. She was angry at them, she was frustrated, but she was a professional in keeping her emotions at bay, only showing what was necessary. Her genjutsu skills were above anything Ino had ever known and she found herself longing for a power like that. She was already coming up with ways how to combine it with her clan’s signature ninjutsu.

Kurenai was someone she wanted to learn from.

“I’m willing” she said with confidence.

She felt the eyes of the others – her _teammates_ – on her, watching her.

“I’m willing too” Shino said after a while. “Though we still need to work on this team.”

Ino looked at Kiba. He had his eyes fixed on Akamaru, right hand on him while the other was still holding Ino’s. At her unwavering gaze he let out a long sigh and leaned back on the bench.

“Okay, me too. Change is good and everything.” He turned to them, grinning, his fang like teeth showing. “But yeah, we still have to work on it.”

Ino found herself smiling too and turned back to Kurenai for her answer.

The jounin searched each of their faces, looking for anything that indicated that they were lying, but then a small smile appeared on her face too.

“Then meet me at the Hokage Tower tomorrow morning. We’re going on a mission. But never forget” she raised a finger in warning before Ino could start bouncing on the bench in excitement, “this is a different world than the one you came to know. And in this cruel world you can only rely on each other.”

Still holding her teammates’ hands, Ino raised her arms in the air and let out a victorious yell. Kiba was complaining about Akamaru almost falling from his lap and Shino was muttering something under his breath, but Ino didn’t care.

She had a good feeling about their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my thought was that anyone who specializes on genjutsu must be at least a bit of a sadist, and Kurenai has to be extra about it when she’s angry or annoyed. I want to give her dimensions, because she didn’t really have any in canon. Especially in Shippuuden. What is it with Kishimoto and female characters becoming irrelevant after they become a mother? Only Kushina had some role, but it was only to have a flashback…
> 
> I also call this team ‘The Team of Lost Potentials’. Because honestly… None of these four had any major role in canon. I already talked about Kurenai. Kiba was supposed to be an other Naruto rival, but the power level of the new rivals jumped too high too quickly for him to keep up with it. Ino was the most underdeveloped girl of the Rookie 9 (not saying Konoha 11, because that title would be Tenten’s then (also poor Tenten)). And poor Shino… He had nothing to do in canon. The one time his bugs would have been the most useful (the Sasuke Retrieval Arc) he didn’t make it into the team. And poor guy was so offended nobody thought about asking him to join the mission!
> 
> So I planted a lot of seeds here for future developments :)
> 
> Also, I said this was my favorite chapter so far. Well the next one…
> 
> Also, as a side note, I somehow thought that Camp NaNoWriMo was in June and woke up this morning ready to write a lot, when I checked the NaNoWriMo page to find out that it would be in July… Huh… But it doesn’t matter. I lived with the opportunity that I didn’t have to go to work today since it’s Whit Monday/Pentecost Monday and wrote a lot. I’ll soon reach 100k words :D Also the Pomodoro Technique is amazing.


	5. Genin - The First Missions - Version 7 - part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Today I have to say that my friendship ended with chapter four, chapter five is my new best friend. Because this chapter contains something that, now looking back, I really missed from the first few episodes/chapters of Naruto. I guess at the beginning the story was supposed to be a bit more lighthearted because ‘Yeah! Shounen! Who needs this kind of emotions?’, and only started to get more serious about this stuff as the plot progressed. You’ll know what I mean when you get there.

He couldn’t sleep in the next day either. Once again Yoshino entered the room so loud the alarm clock next to Shikamaru’s bed sounded only like a whisper.

“You’re starting your real missions today!” she said as she grabbed Shikamaru by the wrist and started pulling him out of the room.

“But Kakashi-sensei will be late” he protested, but Yoshino ignored him.

So that was how he found himself walking down the streets of Konoha yawning as Chouji talked about his first day in his new team.

“Sakura could climb the tree on her first try so she’s now learning to walk on water. Hinata’s getting there too, slowly. And I almost blew up the tree when I put my foot on it.”

“You’ll eventually get the hang of it” Shikamaru said. “Chakra control either is a talent you were born with, or a skill you’ll master with a lot of practice.”

Chouji took a potato chip from the bag he was holding, but just stared at it instead of eating it. Seeing this unusual behavior from him, Shikamaru looked at him with concern.

“What is it?”

Chouji started turning the chip around, looking at it from every angle.

“You know… Sakura and Hinata are very nice. Sakura’s not as loud as she was back at the Academy and she's actually very supportive. And Hinata made food for us and will probably bring some today too. And sensei is encouraging us when we feel down and doubt ourselves, and he’s also very patient with us.”

Shikamaru frowned, searching his friend’s expression.

“But?”

Chouji sighed. He finally bit on the potato chip and didn’t continue talking until he swallowed it.

“I just hoped to be in the same team as you, you know? We are the 16th generation of Ino-Shika-Chou, so we should’ve been assigned to the same team with Ino.”

So Chouji was also thinking about this strange change too, just like him. He was trying to figure out the reason behind the decision ever since it had been announced. Every train of thought led him to the conclusion that it was not logical. This generation’s Ino-Shika-Chou was split up and put in different teams, all three with illogical arrangements. His parents weren’t vocally against the decision, and he hadn’t heard any arguments from the Yamanaka and the Akimichi clans either. Instead, Shikaku and Yoshino seemed to be pleased with this change even though they both had a strange undercurrent of emotions Shikamaru couldn’t put his fingers on.

So it was either an illogical decision on the Hokage’s part, or he was missing some crucial details.

He would bet money on the latter.

Just like the events of the night after their Academy graduation, this was a mystery he wanted to figure out the most. Being a genin in a team for only the third day, he was too low in the chain of command to get his hands on any classified information, and his father wouldn’t tell him anything. All he could do was to go on with his life and keep a close eye on everything. The answers would eventually come to him, he just needed to be patient.

Luckily for him, he was teammates with Naruto. And he was at the center of almost every question Shikamaru had.

But being with Naruto in the same team meant that Chouji was in a different one. And Chouji wasn’t feeling off because of the broken traditions. No. It was because for a long time they only had each other as friends. And suddenly being separated by this tiny decision was taking its toll on him.

“Look.” Shikamaru stopped Chouji with a hand on his shoulder. “I wanted to be in the same team as you. Not just because of clan traditions, but because you’re my best friend. Unfortunately, becoming a genin means we’re not the ones who decide where we want to go or what we want to do. We have to make the best out of what we have.” Shikamaru squeezed Chouji’s shoulder and smiled. “Being in different teams doesn’t mean we won’t see each other ever again. We’re spending time together right now, aren’t we? We just started a new chapter of our lives, and this was one of the many changes. Sooner or later we’ll be getting used to it. I’m sure Sakura and Hinata will turn out to be great friends.”

Chouji looked down after a while, still not looking convinced. Shikamaru frowned.

“Is there something else?”

Chouji shook his head and looked up at Shikamaru with the fakest smile he had ever seen.

“No. Nothing else.”

Shikamaru was about to say something but was interrupted by the arrival of Sakura.

“Hey, Chouji! Good morning!” She turned to Shikamaru. “Hey, Shikamaru! How are you doing?”

Glancing at Chouji’s direction one last time, Shikamaru turned his attention to Sakura.

“Fine, I guess.”

The three of them continued walking together to their destination. The Hokage Tower wasn’t the tallest building, but it demanded respect even from the distance, as the stone faces of former Hokages looked down at the village.

“I can’t wait to finally start our first mission!” Sakura clapped her hands together in excitement. “My father said D-Rank missions would be boring, like cleaning the streets, or buying groceries, but we have to start with the simplest things.”

Shikamaru let out a long breath. He wasn’t as excited about these missions as Sakura. The genin usually got the worst of the worst missions. All those rich people who lived around and didn’t want to deal with tasks on their own or to hire servants and being responsible for them usually went to the Hokage Tower to register it as a mission. Most of the missions were D-Rank, so the money gained from each successful mission was the main source of income for the village. Still, it was only a fancy name for the fact that rich people made genin work for them like laborers.

In Shikamaru’s opinion ‘D’ stood for ‘degrading’.

“Don’t be so excited, Sakura” said Ino who joined the group with her own team. “You’ll soon realize that D-Rank missions are nothing more than people being too lazy to deal with simple daily tasks.”

“It doesn’t matter” Sakura said with a huff. “As I said, we have to start somewhere.” Then a huge smile appeared on her face. “Hinata! Good morning!”

The quite girl was quickly pulled into a side hug by the other. Hinata almost dropped the box she was holding, but returned Sakura’s smile with a more timid one.

“Good morning.”

“Oh! You brought food today too? I hope you’re not overworking yourself.”

Hinata shook her head with a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

“It’s nothing. I like cooking.”

Chouji stepped to the other side of Hinata, eyes fixed on the box, nostrils twitching as he sniffed the air. Hinata, upon noticing this, took a smaller box out of nowhere and handed it to Chouji.

“I figured you wouldn’t mind an appetizer before the mission.”

Chouji took the box with great care and opened it. Glancing into the box Shikamaru saw four neatly shaped daifukus. Chouji bit into one of them, chewed on it, and his eyes were filled with so much delight his previous bad mood quickly evaporated.

“This is so good, Hinata” he said with an emotional voice, and even his eyes welled up a little bit.

“Thank you.” Hinata’s blush deepened and the three of them started talking with smiles on all of their faces.

Shikamaru took a last look at them and turned ahead. It was great to see Chouji like this. The girls clearly liked him and accepted him the way he was. Not like there was anything wrong with Chouji. Yes, he was overweight, but who cared? He had a kind heart and that was what mattered.

Chouji had a great place in that team, Shikamaru was glad for him.

Looking the other way, he quickly observed the other team too.

There was still a tension between them, especially between Ino and Kiba. Their stubborn personalities were too similar to each other, a clash between the two was inevitable. And they did snarl at each other, even now as they were walking side by side. But somehow they seemed calmer than before. Shino walked next to them like his arguing teammates weren’t even there, and Akamaru looked around from his spot on the top of Kiba’s head.

They still needed some work to do, but he was sure that eventually they’d turn out to be a great team too.

Then there was his team…

“Oi! Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru looked ahead.

Naruto was standing on the bridge, waving at him with a huge grin on his face. Sasuke stood a few meters behind him, arms crossed over his chest, looking everywhere but his team, and former classmates.

Shikamaru let out a sigh.

He had no idea how their team could become functional. When needed they could work well together, he’d seen it the other day. But they couldn’t rely on a dire situation to force them into teamwork.

He was doubtful about their future as a team.

*****

“Why are your genin like angels, while mine are like little demons?”

Asuma laughed at that, his cigarette almost falling out of his mouth.

“Don’t exaggerate, Kurenai. I’m sure your team is great.”

Kurenai gave Asuma a look that Kakashi couldn’t watch without smirking.

“My, my, don’t try to kill your boyfriend with those eyes, Kurenai” he commented. “What would I tell the authorities?”

Kurenai’s glare was now fixated on him.

“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. And second of all, my team sucks. I’m giving them a second chance to change how they act, but I’ll leave them in a genjutsu for an eternity if they won’t work hard enough on it.”

Kakashi had no doubt about that. Kurenai was someone nobody would want to mess with. The more pissed she was at someone, the nastier genjutsu she would cast.

They were on their way to the Hokage tower so their new teams could get their first missions. There would be a certificate or a pen with a date engraved into it or something like that. He didn’t know what the Hokage was giving out on these occasions. He didn’t remember ever getting one. Or maybe he’d thrown it out the moment he got home?

“Speaking of teams” Kakashi changed the subject and looked around. “Were we the only ones who accepted their genin?”

“Yeah” Asuma said with a nod. “Ensui decided his team was mentally not ready yet. Santa’s team turned out to be a disaster. He’ll only teach them if they stay one more year at the Academy.”

“What about Iroha?”

Asuma raised a brow. He didn’t need to say anything else, Kakashi understood him perfectly. Hyuuga Iroha was a disaster, like Santa’s almost team apparently. Maybe they should’ve switched the two jounin.

“What about your team, Kakashi?” Asuma asked. “I was surprised to hear that a team actually managed to pass your impassable test.”

Kakashi shrugged.

“That means the genin from the previous years weren’t good enough.”

“But what was your real reason to let them pass?” Kurenai leaned forward a bit. “Was it because one of them is an Uchiha, or that one of them is your sensei’s son?”

Kakashi would’ve looked around to see if anyone was listening to them when discussing highly classified information, but he knew Kurenai had already cast a jutsu around them to prevent their voices from reaching unwelcomed ears.

Instead he glared at her.

“That was uncalled for.”

“Was it?”

Kakashi turned away from her. It had nothing to do with who the boys were. They passed the test and that was what mattered. He would’ve sent them back to the Academy if they hadn’t shown the smallest hope for them to turn out to be a good team.

“Come on, Kurenai” Asuma stepped between them. “Kakashi is not known for his favoritism. Right, Kakashi?”

“It’s still something I would consider as a possibility. An Uchiha, a Jinchuriki, and add the Jounin Commander’s son into the mix, and you’ll get a team not even the bravest of ninjas would reject.”

What a shame Kakashi wasn’t a brave ninja.

“MY ETERNAL RIVAL!” came the familiar shout from the distance and Kakashi swiftly turned down the next street.

“And that’s my cue to leave. See you later!”

He used the Body Flicker Technique before they could call out for him and only stopped when he was at least three streets away from them. He stood there for a while, waiting if any of them was following him, and just then continued walking with a normal pace.

He didn’t have favorites. His team was still dysfunctional, but with time he would come to like each individual of his team. Naruto was loud, but honest and generous. Sasuke was arrogant and cold, but talented. Shikamaru was lazy, but a genius, maybe even smarter than Kakashi himself. All three of them had their positive and negative traits. One day he would like each of them for their differences, their weaknesses and their strengths, their good and bad sides.

Right?

He wanted to be just like his sensei. Minato had been accepting from the very first moment, even if Kakashi had only used Obito and Rin to get higher and higher. Minato had seen this and patiently waited for the moment he changed. Too bad that moment had come too late. He used to have a great team, he used to have great friends, he used to have a—

Kakashi put his palm over his covered Sharingan.

He wanted to be just like Obito. Caring, loyal, fearless… Standing up for his beliefs, going against ideas that were the complete opposite of those… Giving lectures about the importance of the team and the bonds between the members… How important it was to keep each other safe…

Which he failed to do again…

And again…

And again…

And again…

Kakashi let out a sigh when he got to the Memorial Stone.

Maybe it was a bad idea to accept the Hokage’s offer years ago. Teaching a team of genin came with a bunch of responsibilities that he wasn’t ready for. They were just kids, they weren’t mature enough for a life like this. They needed to live first and just then decide if they were ready to become a ninja. The stronger they’d become, the more dangerous missions they’d go on, the more dangerous foes they’d have to fight.

And he wouldn’t be able to do anything, but stand at the sidelines and watch them run into their doom.

Kakashi shook his head.

No, he shouldn’t think like that. The ninja nations were at peace right now. A fragile peace, but a peace at least. They were spying on each other all the time, Konoha was doing that too, but they were too afraid to do anything else. Each time a team - be it a jounin or ANBU team - came back from an A or S-Rank mission, Kakashi could see the tension that surrounded them. Anything could trigger a conflict between two nations, and when two started a war, the others would follow soon, taking sides or fighting for only themselves.

Kakashi was only a kid the last time a major war had happened. And the loss was greater than in any other war before.

Or maybe he was just biased.

“Hey, Obito…”

He was certainly biased.

*****

“I’m so glad you’re here too, Sasuke-kun!”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be accepted by your sensei, Sasuke-kun!”

“You will do amazing on your first mission, Sasuke-kun!”

“I’ll do my best for you, Sasuke-kun!”

Sasuke closed his eyes and gathered all of his strength to hold back an annoyed groan. Was it too late for him to go back to his apartment? Kakashi would be late anyway, he wouldn’t know he wasn’t there on time.

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto started bouncing next to Sakura, eyes shining with excitement. “I was accepted by my sensei too, and I did amazing, and—”

Sakura’s expression changed from delighted to disgust in a millisecond as she turned to glare at Naruto.

“I don’t care, Naruto!”

To which Hinata hid her face behind her forehead protector, to which Chouji frowned at Sakura, who in return quickly shut her mouth and bit on her lower lip. Seeing this, Ino let out a sardonic laugh, to which Kiba made a comment, and the two were soon at each others’ throats. Sasuke with Shikamaru and Shino stood at the sidelines and watched the disaster unfold.

“I sometimes think we were let out of the Academy too early” Shikamaru commented, rubbing one of his ears. “Do our senseis really want to teach a bunch of irritating kids?”

“It was more like Iruka-sensei wanted to get rid of us” Shino said.

Shikamaru let out a chuckle at that.

“Yeah, most of us almost made him rip his hair out.”

They continued watching the disaster for a few more seconds in silence.

“How do you get along with those two?” Shikamaru asked, pointing at the still arguing duo of Kiba and Ino. “Just alone they’re more than enough, but together…”

Shino shrugged.

“I can’t say anything yet.”

Two jounin appeared next to them out of nowhere. Sarutobi Asuma dropped his cigarette to step on it, and after throwing it into the nearest trash he walked to his team, while the woman put her hands on her hips and glared at Ino and Kiba.

“What did I say about changing your attitude?”

It was amazing to see how quickly Kiba and Ino stopped arguing and straightened their backs before their sensei like she had just told them the worst threat of the world.

“We’re sorry, Kurenai-sensei” Ino said quickly.

Kurenai nodded once then made her way to the entrance of the building. Her students followed her in silence.

“See ya” Shikamaru told Shino when he turned to follow them too. His only answer was a simple nod.

Asuma passed them with his team too, looking at each of their expressions with a frown.

“Did something happen?” he asked.

Sakura and Hinata shook their heads, none of them looking very convincing.

“They have a disagreement about—” Choiji started but he was quickly silenced by a look from both of the girls.

Asuma still watched them questioningly as they entered the Hokage tower.

And once again, their team was left alone to wait for their sensei to finally arrive.

Sasuke started to dislike this in Kakashi. No matter how talented he seemed to be, a ninja had to be on time for everything. A ninja had to work precisely if they wanted to stay alive for one more day, one more week, one more year. And part of that was time management. A ninja who was always late wouldn’t be able to finish their missions in time, and time was the essence of everything. They had to calculate their every move and plan ahead in case anything happened. And Kakashi didn’t seem to be one who cared about planning.

Or was it a mind game like the other day? Was he continuously testing their patience and endurance? Because time management also meant waiting for the perfect moment to take action. They couldn’t rush into the unknown like Naruto did all the time.

Was this a punishment because of Naruto? Like Shikamaru had said, they were a team now and they would be punished as a team no matter who made the mistakes.

Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned his back against the building. That was just great. They weren’t even teammates for a week yet, and they already had a disadvantage because of one of them. He wasn’t looking forward to work in this team at all. He’d rather find an other way to reach his goal than to spend more time with them.

About twenty minutes after they entered, Team Kurenai left the building. Both Ino and Kiba had displeasure on their faces, muttering to each other probably about the mission they just got.

Sasuke looked up at the sun. If Kakashi didn’t arrive soon, the worst D-Rank mission would be theirs, he was sure about it.

Team Asuma walked out next after a larger group of chuunin teams. Sakura held the scroll in her hand, lifting it higher so her teammates could see it, who read it with deep concentration.

Naruto, of course, knowing nothing about personal space and such, joined the three other genin and looked at the scroll above Chouji’s shoulder.

“What?!” he exclaimed, making Hinata jump. “You have to pick up trash?! That’s not exciting at all!”

Sakura turned to him and hit him on the arm.

“I told you we’d get these kinds of missions at the start!” she scolded him, then looked around. “Where’s your sensei, anyway?”

Asuma let out a laugh as he lit his cigarette.

“Kakashi’s like that. He probably got lost or had to go the long way around Konoha because—”

“The black cats, yeah, we heard.” Shikamaru let out a long yawn and sat down. “Wake me up when he finally arrives.”

And just the second after his head touched the ground he was already sleeping. Asuma eyed him with surprise.

“And Shikamaru’s like that” Naruto simply said with a shrug and settled down next to Shikamaru.

Asuma watched them for a little longer, then laughed and turned away.

“Kakashi certainly has an interesting team. Let’s go guys. The trash won’t pick up itself.”

“If only” Chouji sighed out. “Bye Shikamaru!”

Shikamaru raised his hand to wave in his sleep, then it fell back on his stomach.

*****

In the end, they waited about an hour for their teacher to finally arrive. He made a weak excuse, claiming he had to help an old lady cross the street, then the four of them finally entered the Tower.

Sasuke had been here once with his father, but he had been too little at the time to remember anything about it. A long staircase led them up to the second floor that opened to an aula. All around them chuunin and jounin were walking up and down, most of them holding large piles of paper or scrolls.

“Look at that. What did the wind blow in here?”

They all turned to the source of the voice. By the look of his vest, the man was probably a jounin. He wore a backwards bandana on his head and a senbon was hanging out between his lips. He was looking at each four of them with a smirk that quickly started to annoy Sasuke.

“I didn’t believe the rumors that you finally got yourself a team, but look at you. Three little twerps following you around like puppies.”

Kakashi let out a slow breath.

“Children, this is Shiranui Genma, one of the Hokage’s guards.”

“And this is the puppy squad, I guess.” Genma pointed at each of them. “Nara, Uchiha, Uzumaki. What a lovely team. Lucky for you Kakashi, your hair is already grey. It might just fall out.”

“I very much appreciate your confidence in me and my team, thank you, Genma.”

“Anytime.” Genma put a hand on Naruto’s head and started ruffling his hair. Naruto swat his hand away with a snarl, to which the jounin just laughed. “It was good to meet you guys.” He patted Naruto’s head one last time, then waved them goodbye as he walked away. “You better hurry to the Mission Desk! I heard the best missions are already taken.”

Sasuke couldn’t hold back the groan now as the jounin walked away with a laugh.

*****

The Mission Assignment Room had two huge windows. Or Naruto didn’t know if he could call those windows. They were… doorless doors or something, opening to a walkway outside. Sometimes a ninja jumped in to set some papers on one of the tables, then they jumped out in the next second.

Paperwork seemed to be boring. The ninjas behind the desks just wrote some strokes on a paper then gave it out, or they counted money, or wrote down the things the civilians said. The younger ninjas were clearly bored as hell, Naruto saw one of them almost falling asleep.

He hoped he would never have to do that much paperwork. Where was the excitement in that?

They were standing at the end of a long and slow line. They must’ve been the last to arrive because nobody came to stand behind them in the last ten minutes. He really hoped that Genma wasn’t right and they would get some awesome mission.

The more time they spent in there, the more eyes he felt on him. He didn’t see anyone watching him, but he could feel the room was getting tenser as more people noticed him. After a while Naruto’s right leg started bouncing, maybe he was getting ready to jump out that window and run away in any minute. He should’ve prepared himself for the attention he would get in here. Everyone was a ninja in here, they all knew him. If not for the monster that was locked inside him, then the pranks he had pulled all over Konoha.

But who wouldn’t know about the monster? Everyone who was old enough was there when the Fox attacked the village and killed the Hokage. And both Iruka and Mizuki had lost their parents that night, who knew who else had lost someone close to them too?

Naruto’s leg started bouncing faster. Maybe he really should jump out that window and wait for his team outside. Shikamaru and Sasuke would soon notice that everybody was watching him. Or maybe they already did and started watching Naruto too, wondering what was going on.

He was getting sick…

“Say, Naruto” Kakashi said all of a sudden. He put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and leaned down a little so he could look into his eyes. “What about after we finish this mission, whatever it would be, we go to Ichiraku’s? I know we were just there yesterday, but you said you liked the ramen there the most. My treat, of course.”

Naruto’s face lit up. He completely forgot about the tension around him as he smiled at Kakashi.

“That would be awesome, Kakashi-sensei!”

Kakashi smiled at him behind his mask and straightened himself. He kept the hand on his shoulder as he looked ahead.

Naruto, in his excitement that he would get free ramen from Kakashi, barely noticed that the eyes on him quickly turned away.

They waited fifteen more minutes before it was finally their turn at the desk. A large group of chuunin was in front of them, so only when they left did Naruto notice that the Third and Iruka were at the desk.

“Hey, Iruka-sensei!” he greeted him with a large grin. “Look at me! I’m in a team!”

Shikamaru groaned next to him and rubbed his ear closest to Naruto.

“I can see that.” Iruka chuckled and started looking through the papers.

“Team Kakashi” the Hokage started. “You are about to receive your first mission. For that occasion, I would like to give you these.”

He put a box on the desk and took of the top of it. Kakashi nudged all three of them to step closer to the desk. As they did, Naruto’s eyes lit up when he saw what was inside.

“Wow!”

There were three kunai, each had their name and the date carefully engraved into it.

“Why didn’t I get one when I got my first mission?” Kakashi asked, peaking into the box above the boys’ heads.

The Hokage raised a brow at that.

“You did, but you threw it out almost immediately, saying it was made out of some third grade metal.”

“I did?” Kakashi leaned away and rubbed his chin while humming.

Naruto took his kunai and looked at it from every angle. He couldn’t tell if the metal was good or not, he loved it anyway. There weren’t many occasions in his life when he got something. He would take care of this as much as he could. He wouldn’t even use it in a fight.

“As for your first mission…” The Hokage reached out towards Iruka, who handed him a scroll. The Third read through it, then glanced up at the team. “You have to clean the sewers in West Konoha.”

Naruto almost dropped his new kunai.

“What!?” he exclaimed. “No way!”

“I’m not going to the sewers” Shikamaru said and put his hands into his pockets but then quickly took them out and crossed his arms.

Sasuke huffed and pushed his hands deeper into his pockets.

“This is not a matter you have a say in” the Hokage told them. “All the other missions are already taken, this is the last D-Rank mission for today. You have to be here earlier next time.”

Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru turned at the same time and glared at their teacher. Kakashi was still rubbing his chin, looking around like he didn’t notice his students.

“Did I really throw it out? Hm.”

“Old Man, isn’t there any other mission we can go on?” Naruto asked, turning back to the Hokage. Some chuunin looked at him with annoyance when he started talking like that with the Third. “Like guarding a princess or something?”

“No, Naruto. Escort and guard missions are all C and B-Ranks. I’m not going to give you a C-Rank on your first day.”

Naruto let out a sigh. Wasn’t there a cleaning crew to do this job? Why did they have to send genin there? The sewers were dirty and smelled really bad. And he didn’t have anything at home to wash the smell out of his cloths. Maybe he should look around the bath house after the mission, he’d found a still useable soap thrown out the last time he'd been there.

“Excuse me” one of the chuunin at the end of the table spoke up. “We just received a potential D-Rank mission.”

Naruto perked up hearing that. He watched as the ninja stood up and gave a scroll to the Hokage.

“Thank you, Zaji.” The Third read it through with care, then looked up at Naruto and the others. “This is a D-Rank mission, indeed.”

The ninja named Zaji stepped away from the Hokage, but on his way back to his chair he gave Naruto a little smile. Naruto decided he liked him.

Naruto saw from the corner of his eyes that Shikamaru and Sasuke too were turning all their attention towards the Hokage. Even Kakashi stopped muttering about his thrown-out kunai for the moment.

“We received news that Madam Shijimi lost her cat, and it was seen in Konoha recently. Your mission is to find Tora the cat, and bring it back here. Madam Shijimi is on her way to Konoha.”

“What is the cat of the daimyou’s wife doing here?” Shikamaru asked.

“The report doesn’t say. Are you accepting this mission, or would you rather go to the sewers?”

The three of them started talking at the same time, thanking the Hokage the new mission. A smirk appeared on the Hokage’s face.

“But remember. The next time you’re this late, you’re going to the sewers. And no, you can’t come here without your sensei.”

They glared at Kakashi again who found something very interesting in one of the corners.

“Thanks, Old Man!” Naruto took the scroll and started marching out of the room. “We’re leaving then!”

“Naruto, we have to talk about the mission!” Shikamaru called after him as the others followed him outside.

But Naruto marched on with a grin on his face, not caring about the looks that followed him.

*****

They sat down on a bench near the Hokage Tower. Naruto held the scroll while Shikamaru and Sasuke sat next to him, reading it too.

“It’s a brown female tabby cat with a red ribbon in her ear” Shikamaru read. “Her last known location is the Senju Park.”

Naruto had never been to the Senju Park. He’d heard that there was a playground, but the guards never let him in when he’d been a kid, so after a while he stopped going there. There were other playgrounds he could go to.

Even though the older kids had treated him there really bad and the smaller kids had always left with their parents whenever Naruto showed up.

“I’ll need you to put these on.”

Kakashi handed them each a… collar?

“What is this, sensei?” Naruto asked, eying the thing in his hand.

“It’s a communication device, idiot” Sasuke answered instead of Kakashi. He opened the collar at the hook-and-loop thingy and put it on his neck. Naruto frowned at his and did the same.

“Since it’s a scouting mission, we won’t be in talking distance to each other. I need you to search through your area of the park and report to me everything you find. Understood?”

“Yes, sensei” the three of them said.

Naruto’s legs started bouncing in excitement. Finally! He was finally starting a mission as a ninja!

*****

Itachi used to have a cat.

He’d named her Kohana. She’d been a sick little kitten when he'd found him, but he’d nurtured her back to health in a few weeks. She’d become a beautiful cat with long red fur and eyes like the sky. She’d never grown big, she’d stayed short due to her legs. She’d always slept in Itachi’s room and Shisui had made kind jokes about it all the time, but he’d loved the cat too.

Kohana had slept on Sasuke’s futon whenever Itachi had been out on a mission. She’d lain by Sasuke like a ball of red fur and she’d purred through the night. Sasuke had loved sleeping with Kohana. She’d reminded him of Itachi whenever he’d missed him, and maybe Kohana had slept next to him for the same reason.

Mikoto had loved the cat too. Whenever she’d been preparing food, she'd always put away some meat, rewarding the cat for her patience and proper behavior. Fugaku on the other hand had ignored the cat all the time, and Kohana had also kept her distance from him.

He hadn’t seen Kohana since his clan was murdered.

Slaughtered.

He sometimes wondered why someone who'd nurtured a sick little kitten back to health with so much care would be able to do such a thing.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to focus now. He had a mission to finish. He had no time to sink into his thoughts and memories. He couldn’t risk getting si—getting distracted by those. He had to move forward to reach his goal.

They’d divided the park into three equal parts. Sasuke got the eastern third. This part of the Senju park had many shrines, all dedicated to the old deities the Senju clan believed in. He passed the shrine of the Mother of Chakra and the Son of Yin on his way to the most secluded part of the park.

The report said the witness had spotted the cat around here but when they’d approached it, the cat had run away. Tora probably didn’t like crowds and would look for a quitter hiding spot where she could keep an eye on her surroundings. So he kept looking up the trees and under bushes, searching for the cat.

_“Status report”_ he heard Kakashi’s voice in his ear.

“Sasuke here. No visual on the target yet.”

_“Do you have to be this professional?”_ came Shikamaru’s bored voice. _“I don’t see any cats. There. That’s all you need to say.”_

Sasuke stopped and clenched his fists.

“We need to learn how to speak professionally” he told him. “We are genin, after all. It’s our job to learn the lingo.”

Shikamaru let out a really long sigh.

_“This mission is boring. Can’t we just open a can of tuna and wait for the cat to show up?”_

He would never admit out loud that it was a better idea than walking around the park, but they needed to learn how to track their target. It would be useful in the future on more dangerous missions.

_“I don’t like tuna”_ said Naruto. _“It smells.”_

And there was the idiot.

_“Focus, children”_ Kakashi told them, sounding tired. _“Look for the cat.”_

Sasuke let out a long breath and continued walking.

The problem with tracking cats was that they were too light to leave any footprints on the dry ground. The weather was dry for the second week, so even under the cover of the trees the soil was like dust. It would only get worse as the season turned to summer. He needed to do something with his apartment before that. Those big windows in his bedroom were horrible when the weather was hot.

_“CAT!”_

Sasuke had to take out the earpiece and rub his ear because Naruto’s scream was like a sharp knife stabbing him in the eardrum. The others probably did the same, because they just started responding when Sasuke put it back.

_“Jeez, Naruto”_ Shikamaru was heard. _“Notch down the yelling.”_

_“But I see the cat!”_

_“Naruto, I need confirmation”_ Kakashi said. _“Is it a brown tabby cat with a red ribbon in its ear?”_

_“Yes, it is and—Kitty stop!”_

Sasuke didn’t wait for the order. He turned to the direction where Naruto’s third of the park was and started running. If they’d fail the mission because Naruto scared the damn cat away for an eternity, he’d strangle him.

_“Naruto, what is your position?”_ Kakashi asked.

_“Tora is leaving the park! I’m following her!”_

_“Naruto, a direction, please?”_

Silence, then—

_“No, Tora! Not the river!”_

Well, shit.

_“Well, shit”_ Kakashi said out loud.

Sasuke adjusted his direction a bit then started running faster. Crossing the pathways, he scared a lot of pedestrians as he suddenly jumped out from the shadows of the trees only to disappear in it again on the other side.

Naruto was an idiot, it wasn’t a question. He recklessly ran into trouble and didn't care about himself or everyone else around him. He was an annoying attention seeker, and the fact that they had to spend together almost every hour of the day for years to come made him sick. He didn’t want anything to do with Naruto. Nobody wanted anything to do with Naruto.

Still…

Sasuke arrived to the river and Naruto was exactly where he predicted. He was sitting on the ground just a meter away from the river. His cloths and face were dirty, his hair a mess. He’d lost his forehead protector somehow which was now held by Shikamaru who looked at him with a frown, but his gaze was still soft. Kakashi was scolding Naruto about the dangers of running off on his own, but his voice was warm instead of harsh. Naruto was only grinning as he listened with Tora in his arms. The cat was calm and was sniffing Naruto’s chin.

Still, there were people who were affectionate with him. Kakashi, Shikamaru, the Hokage, Iruka, even Zaji, the desk chuunin, and Genma who hadn’t met Naruto before, but treated him like they'd known each other for years. Their interactions felt different, almost like they were…

A family.

He hated that he recognized the tight knot in his chest as jealousy.

*****

He decided he liked this cat.

Once Tora calmed down, she turned out to be very friendly. She was purring in Naruto’s arms and rubbed her face against his once in a while as they made their way back to the Hokage Tower. Tora’s owner would surely be happy for getting back her cat. But it was also too bad Tora already had an owner. He really wanted to keep her, she would be a great company in his quite apartment, but he really couldn’t. But he would be happy if the owner was happy.

It hadn’t been even three hours later, and they were back in the tower. Curious looks followed them on their way to the Mission Assignment Room, but Naruto didn’t care about them. They just finished their first mission as a ninja. Naruto was so happy, there was nothing that would be able to change his mood.

They entered the room and the Hokage was still there with Iruka and the other chuunin. A group of older genin and their sensei stood on the left side of the table, talking to the ninja behind the desk, while the Hokage was listening to a rather large woman.

“Oh, there they are” the Hokage said when he noticed them enter. “Madam Shijimi, just as I said, our young shinobi are rather capable.”

The woman turned towards them. Madam Shijimi looked strange with all the make-up. She reminded him to the women on that street he was forbidden to go to, because he was a kid yadda, yadda, yadda. It hadn’t stopped him and Kiba going there to see what was the big deal about it. He had no idea why they weren’t allowed to go there. There were just women with a lot of make-up talking to men.

Naruto felt Tora tensing in his arms. He didn’t pay much attention to it, he was too happy that their first mission went well. He marched up to the woman with bouncy steps.

“Here, lady!” Naruto grinned and raised the cat towards the woman.

The woman took the cat from him and was about to say something, but as soon as her gaze settled on Naruto she froze. Her eyes widened and the smile turned into a grimace. Naruto blinked a few times at her in confusion then he felt ice spreading through his chest.

The woman was looking at him with anger and disgust.

“Lord Hokage!” she turned to the Third. “What’s this supposed to mean? What is this thing doing here?”

Naruto flinched and dropped his gaze to the floor. He felt the eyes of his teammates on him like they were stabbing him with red-hot needles.

“Madam Shijimi, Naruto is—” the Third started, but the woman cut in.

“A ninja?!” Madam Shijimi’s voice was getting louder. “How come a demon like him can become a ninja?!”

A chair sled against the floorboards. Somebody stood up.

“Madam Shijimi!” That was Iruka.

“Naruto is a young boy who decided to serve his village as a ninja” the Hokage said. Naruto hadn’t heard him that cold before. It wasn’t that noticeable, but Naruto was used to him talking in a friendly way, and to that the change was big.

Naruto was shaking now and his eyes stung. He started to back away. Everyone was watching him. The chuunin at the desk, the older genin, his team. Everyone. He needed to get to the door, he needed to get out of here—

He backed into something solid. A hand settled on his left shoulder and an other on his forehead. The fingers were so cold it made Naruto let out a long shaky breath.

“Madam Shijimi” Kakashi started, his thumb brushing Naruto’s shoulder. His voice was calm, but there was a passive aggressive edge in it. “I can assure you that Naruto is a valuable asset to the team. If it was not for him, Tora would have fallen into the river. He saved your cat’s life.”

Had he really? He’d just caught the cat on the river bank, it wasn’t like she’d wanted to jump in the water or something.

Speaking of Tora, the cat was wiggling in her owner’s hands. She had all of her claws out and was trying to turn around, but Madam Shijimi held her tight. Maybe a little too tight.

“I do not care what you think. I have heard enough to know how your politics in the Hidden Village work. You think I am not aware of what is going on here or what secrets you try to hide? I know what things you are doing behind the daimyou’s back! He will definitely hear about this!”

He couldn’t stand it anymore.

Naruto quickly got out of Kakashi’s hold and ran to the door. He didn’t look back when they were calling his name. He had to get out of here, fast.

What was he thinking? That becoming a ninja would suddenly change everyone’s opinion about him? He was so stupid to believe in that. The hate towards him wouldn’t magically disappear.

No. It only got worse.

Maybe he shouldn’t have become a ninja.

*****

Saying that he was shocked was an understatement. He knew the villagers didn’t like Naruto, but this much hatred directed towards a boy, _a child_ , petrified him.

What had Naruto done to deserve this treatment? If it was a villager standing at the desk, he would still be shocked, but their actions would be a bit more understandable. But no. It was the daimyou’s wife who didn’t even live in Konoha, so she’d never been the target of Naruto’s pranks.

What the hell was going on…?

“Madam Shijimi” the Hokage started. Every head moved at the same time from the door where Naruto had left to the Third. “There is nothing going on behind the daimyou’s back, I can assure you about that.”

“Really? Would you say the same when my source comes forward to confront you with the truth?” The woman straightened her back, and Shikamaru wondered when she would fall over her balance point.

He really wanted her to fall over her balance point. He’d never been this angry at anyone before. She was arrogant and rich and she was abusing her position. Shikamaru never respected those kinds of people. They were the rotten half of society who for some reason took up the majority of political and leading positions. They were the loud majority who outnumbered those who actually wanted to do good with their money and position.

The tension was gradually rising in the room. Next to him Kakashi was completely still, radiating a cold vibe that Shikamaru had only felt when his father was angry but he showed nothing on the outside. His arms were hanging by his sides, but his fingers were tense, like he was ready to throw a kunai at any moment.

Sasuke was still too on his other side, but it was more out of curiosity than an intent to fight. His eyes were constantly moving from one person to the other, absorbing the information he was hearing, trying to solve the puzzle presented to him.

Shikamaru would’ve done the same in other circumstances.

But he was too damn angry for that at the moment.

His mind was blank and a raging inferno at the same time. He was deaf for the outside as his heart was pumping in his ears. He was seeing red and at the center of his focus was that damn woman who made Naruto run away.

“Bitch.”

Everyone froze in the room.

Madam Shijimi slowly turned towards him, expression unreadable.

“Excuse me?”

Shikamaru curled up his fingers into fists.

“Bitch.”

The Hokage stood up from his chair as Iruka fell back into his own.

The woman’s face transformed into a mix of anger and disgust as she opened her mouth to say something, but Shikamaru wasn’t interested in any of that. He wouldn’t give the satisfaction to the woman to be able to shout his head off.

“Come on.”

And with that Shikamaru grabbed Sasuke’s arm and pulled him towards the door.

“Wha—”

“We need to find Naruto” he cut in.

He’d seen Naruto running away from his abusers once. A shop owner had thrown him out, landing at the feet of the pedestrians. The man from the shop had yelled curses at him for entering his shop while the villagers around them had joined in with whispers and yells too.

“Why do you hate me like this?!” Naruto had shouted and ran away.

Shikamaru had watched that without a word. As a six year old, he hadn’t had any idea what was going on or how any of his interferences would’ve helped Naruto in that situation. He had asked his father about it later that day. He remembered his mother becoming tense next to him at the dinner table, and his father never giving him an answer.

“Did you want to join the others?” Shikaku had asked instead. He’d smiled when Shikamaru shook his head. “Then don’t care about their opinions. Do what you want to do.”

Shortly after that incident he became friends with Naruto. They weren’t as close as he was with Chouji, but the three of them - later joined by Kiba and his dog, Akamaru - spent most of their free time playing together. Shikamaru didn’t remember if the villagers had said anything to Naruto at that time, but maybe that was because they had actively avoided the busier areas of Konoha.

And Naruto was not only his friend now but his teammate too. He still had no idea how he could help Naruto, but he would do anything in his power to support him. It was his responsibility as a friend and a teammate to look after him. And for that he needed to find him first. He couldn’t leave him alone right now.

He started running once they were out of the room. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible to find Naruto, and he didn’t even stop when his father called after him.

Once outside, he quickly left through the gate and looked around almost in panic. Where would Naruto run? Home? He realized as a cold feeling settled in his stomach that he had no idea where Naruto lived. How would he find him like this? He could be anywhere!

He was about to run ahead when Sasuke freed his arm from his grip.

“Shikamaru, stop!”

Shikamaru spun on his heels and opened his mouth to argue with Sasuke when he noticed him pointing to Shikamaru’s left. Shikamaru blinked and looked at that direction.

The Academy.

Of course! Shikamaru scolded himself as he ran towards their old school. He knew exactly where Naruto usually went when he wasn’t in a good mood.

And there he was.

As soon as he entered, he saw Naruto. He was sitting on the swing with his back to them, one hand on the rope he was leaning his head against.

“Naruto” he said when he got closer.

Naruto trembled and quickly rubbed his face with his free hand.

“What are you doing here?”

The tired acceptance in his voice made him stop.

“Looking for you, of course.”

“Why? So you can stare at me too?”

“Because we’re teammates? And we’re supposed to look after each other?”

Naruto snorted.

“Supposed to. So it’s just a must.”

Shikamaru blinked, eyes wide. Why would Naruto say things like that? He knew him for years now, didn’t he? They were friends, weren’t they?

But should he be surprised that Naruto was thinking like that? That anyone who spent time with him did it out of necessity? He had seen how the other ninjas looked at him that morning. He remembered how the other students at the Academy had treated him. He heard what the villagers called him, what they whispered to each other when Naruto passed them.

_Demon._

Madam Shijimi had called him that too a few minutes ago.

His steps were slow, careful as he walked around Naruto. He was looking downwards so once Shikamaru was in front of him, he crouched down.

Naruto’s eyes were red and swollen, his face damp. He had a blank expression, and avoided Shikamaru’s eyes.

“Yes, it’s a must because we are teammates. But we’re also friends, and as your friend I’m worried about you.”

Naruto sniffed once but didn’t say anything.

Shikamaru let out a long breath and raised his hand slowly. Naruto was like a scared little fawn now. His movements had to be slow, and he had to look for any negative reactions. He couldn’t force anything the other didn’t want.

But Naruto didn’t react at all, so Shikamaru gently settled his hand on Naruto’s knee.

“I don’t know how you feel right now” he said with a low voice. “It must be awful to hear those things the villagers say.”

That caused a reaction. Naruto trembled a bit under his hand.

“And it’s not fair” he continued. “You didn’t do anything to deserve this kind of treatment.”

Naruto huddled himself up a little more.

“I do.”

Shikamaru frowned.

“You do what?”

“I deserve it.”

Shikamaru’s fingers curled up a little, gripping Naruto’s knee tightly, but not too tight.

“Why would you say that? Yes, you make a lot of pranks, but that doesn’t allow anyone to call you names that cruel.”

Naruto pressed his lips together. His eyes were starting to well up with tears.

“Naruto.” Shikamaru leaned closer. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

The night after their graduation. The way the villagers treated him. The more information he gathered, the less he understood anything. He needed to know what was going on. He was going insane with all those questions in his head.

Naruto shook his head.

“I can’t.”

And the answer was something that most of the villagers knew, but wouldn’t tell anyone. Like how his father wouldn’t tell him anything.

“Can’t or won’t?”

Naruto bit on his lip.

“Both?”

Something Naruto was forbidden to tell anyone, but was also afraid to talk about.

“Alright” he said in the end, and squeezed Naruto’s knee. “I’m not asking more questions, okay?”

Naruto slowly nodded.

“I just want you to know” he continued, “that you’re my friend. And as your friend and teammate, but mostly as your friend, I’m responsible to look after you. And that’s because I chose to be your friend, and not because someone decided to put us in the same team, okay?”

He needed to say it like that. He realized Naruto needed to hear this, every little detail explained, because as it turned out he was prone to come to negative conclusions. Shikamaru had no idea how much hardship Naruto had gone through in his life to be so pessimistic about human relations, but if saying the simplest thing would take at least three sentences, he’d damn do it.

Naruto slowly met his eyes. He was searching his face for a while, then a smile appeared on his.

“I’ll look after you too.”

Shikamaru couldn’t help but smile too.

“Then let’s go.” He raised his other hand and offered Naruto his forehead protector he was still holding. “We’re going to Ichiraku’s and wait for Kakashi-sensei there. He promised us a meal, after all.”

Naruto took the forehead protector with a huge grin and tied it back to its rightful place.

“Kakashi-sensei wouldn’t know what hit him when he sees the bill we made for him!” He stood up with his arms high in the air. “Let’s go!”

Shikamaru stood up too, glad that Naruto was finally in a good spirit. He knew he couldn’t solve every problem Naruto had to face, but at least he could always remind him that he was there for him.

So he followed Naruto with his hands in his pockets and he was soon followed by Sasuke too.

Shikamaru blinked.

He completely forgot that Sasuke was there too the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah…
> 
> Also, I moved the Mission Assignment Desk to the Hokage Tower, because why would it be in the Academy? That makes no sense at all.


	6. Genin – The First Missions – Version 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s getting sooo hot here, guys =_= I can’t concentrate on anything in this weather… Can I have a chilly summer, please?

“I’m serious, girls. Is there something wrong?”

Hinata shook her head and Sakura did the same. Asuma watched them for a few more seconds, then turned to talk to Chouji when he didn’z get an answer.

There was nothing wrong. Really. She knew well Sakura didn’t like Naruto. Her opinion wouldn’t change just because now they were in the same team and she knew Hinata had a crush on him. Every people had their own unique likes and dislikes. She just needed to accept that Sakura disliked Naruto, that was all.

But thinking this didn’t mean it hurt less.

Yes, Naruto was loud. Yes, Naruto annoyed most of the people around him. But he was also encouraging. He didn’t let other people’s opinion drag him down. He moved forward and overcame every obstacle. He was a great inspiration for Hinata. He set an example she wanted to follow, even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to succeed that easily. She was still the timid girl who wanted nothing less than hurting her own sister.

Hinata rubbed her fingertips with her thumb on her right hand. Hanabi was still too young to understand the significance of their sparing. For her it was the opportunity to show how much she had grown in a short period of time, but for Hinata it was a source of fear.

If she won, Hanabi would get the Caged Bird Seal.

Hinata wondered why she hadn’t gotten it already. Her father had disowned her, after all. Shouldn’t it mean she’d get the Seal instantly? She was a disowned Hyuuga with an unprotected Byakugan going on missions. Wasn’t it unsafe for the clan to let her go wherever she wanted and was sent to? Shouldn’t they keep her locked in the compound like the rest of the main branch so she wouldn’t be in the constant danger of getting kidnapped?

Hinata would never want to be the prisoner of her own home, fearing the moment when somebody tried to steel her eyes.

But it wouldn’t be the first time.

She couldn’t recall anything from that day. She only remembered a few sounds and feelings. But the experience still returned in her dreams, plaguing her nights whenever she was stressed out. Which she mostly was.

“Here we are!”

Team 8 stopped at the end of the street. It was Konoha’s busiest part with shops and restaurants on both sides. It was a favorite destination of the tourists who came to Konoha, and they left papers, cigarettes, wrappings, and cans all around behind them, usually thrown right next to the trash can. This kind of carelessness was unfortunately true to most people.

“This is awful!” Sakura exclaimed. She scrunched her nose, probably at the scent Hinata smelled too. “Why can’t people keep their surroundings clean?”

“It’s either that they never learnt what to do, or they don’t care” Asuma said. “And these people never teach their children what to do, and the cycle continues. All we can do is set a good example for the younger generations, and hope that they won’t forget.”

They were given trash bags and gloves. Hinata’s was too big for her hands, she had to adjust it a few times before she tucked it inside her coat.

“Let’s spice things up a bit” Asuma said with a smile as he lit a cigarette. “Pick up the trash as quick as possible without touching anyone on the street.”

“So we’re practicing elusion” Sakura concluded.

Hinata heard Chouji letting out a long sigh.

“That won’t work for me.” He shook his head.

Hinata was about to put a comforting hand on his shoulder when Asuma spoke up.

“Why wouldn’t it?” he asked, honest surprise on his face.

Chouji hung his head.

“Because I’m big and slow?”

“And? I’m big too.”

“But you’re an adult, sensei! You had more time to practice than us.”

Asuma pointed at Chouji.

“Exactly. I practiced every day to become the ninja I am today. You just finished the Academy, don’t have too high expectations of yourself. You still have a long road of training ahead of you.” He put a hand on Chouji’s shoulder. “All three of you do. And that’s why I’m here to guide and teach you. And I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

He patted Chouji’s shoulder before he let it go.

“And I’ll continue to tell you this until you believe it.”

Chouji didn’t say anything but Hinata could tell he didn’t believe their sensei. It was difficult to forget all the pain one received for years, after all…

“Alright then!” Sakura raised a fist in the air. “Let’s do this! The street won’t clean itself, unfortunately!”

Asuma let out a laugh.

“As one of my friends would say, what a youthful energy. Let’s start with ten minutes. Pick up as much trash as you can during that time and avoid touching anyone. If you are touched you can’t pick up that trash, you need to find a new one. I’ll tell you when the time’s up.”

“Are we competing against each other?” Hinata asked.

“You’re competing against yourselves” Asuma explained. “Just like with the dummies. We’ll keep track of your progress.”

Hinata let out a quite sigh. For a moment she was afraid Asuma would pit them against each other, but she should’ve known their sensei wasn’t like that. She would never experience the same treatment here with this team like at home.

If she could still call that place a home.

“Get ready, guys.”

Hinata stepped next to Chouji and Sakura, forming a line at that end of the street. Trash bags ready in one hand, they waited for their sensei to set the timer.

“And… go!”

Hinata moved forward swiftly, dodging the pedestrians on her way. During her years of training the Gentle Fist, she had to master smooth and quick movements early. There were no mindless actions allowed while using her clan’s technique. Her aim and strike had to be perfect, and in the mean time she had to dodge any incoming attacks.

This training exercise was the same in a way. She had to aim the trash left on the ground, pick it up with a quick lean and hand movement, and avoid any human contact. She focused all her attention to these three components of her task, locking out any wandering thoughts. The outside world didn’t exist; there was only her target and a few obstacles. She moved like she was a creek, flowing gently but swiftly between the rocks towards its destination. She was perfectly aware of the dimensions of her body, knew how far her arms could reach, the spot where her feet touched the ground, how her torso bent when she leaned down. It was a performance, a dance.

A dance she could only perform when expecting eyes didn’t follow her every move.

“Times up!”

Hinata stopped, sidestepping from the way of a man that came from her left.

This mission was turning out to be surprisingly relaxing.

Hinata gathered the most trash in ten minutes. Sakura and Chouji had almost the same amount, and while Chouji had a defeated look, Sakura was frowning in frustration.

“What did you experience?” Asuma asked.

“It’s a task requiring the division of your attention” Sakura said. “I had a problem with that. I avoided touching anyone while looking for the trash on the ground, but when I leaned down to pick it up I forgot about my surroundings. And when I was careful when I leaned down I missed the trash and had to look for it again.”

“I didn’t know where to move” Chouji said. “There wasn’t enough space.”

When it was Hinata’s turn, she pressed her lips together and avoided looking at anyone.

“Hinata” Asuma spoke to her. “I watched each of you and you were doing it perfectly. Don’t feel bad for being good at something when the others are not. Remember, all three of you have different strengths and weaknesses, and we’re aiming to find out each of those. Tell us what you did.”

Hinata hesitated for a moment before she said anything.

“I used what I’ve learnt during training the Gentle Fist.”

“The Gentle Fist” Sakura muttered with a frown. "The technique you mentioned yesterday? The one stopping the chakra circulation in the area of their strike."

“Yes” Asuma said. “The Hyuuga start learning that at a very young age.”

Both Sakura and Chouji turned to look at her. She didn’t know what kind of emotion was in their eyes, Hinata quickly dropped her gaze in the sudden attention.

“See? That’s the result of years of training. You two can be as good at it as Hinata, all you need is devotion to your goal, and patience towards yourselves.”

Sakura and Chouji nodded, then Sakura gently nudged Hinata with her elbow.

“You did great, Hinata.”

Hinata felt heat rushing to her cheeks.

“Thank you.”

“Alright, guys. Put your bags here.”

They did and Asuma wrote their names on it with a neon yellow marker.

“New bags for the next ten minutes” he continued as he gave out the bags. “Sakura, Chouji, your task is the same.”

Sakura and Chouji nodded and stepped to their starting line.

“Hinata, you can move to the next stage. Choose a target and follow them. Pick up the trash and try not to be seen. If they notice you, you have to choose a new target.” He took a new timer out of his pocket. “I’ll time you separately from the others and keep record of your progress. I’ll start the timer the moment you step behind someone.”

Hinata took the new bag and went to stand next to the others again. She didn’t know how she’d do with this next stage as her sensei called it, she’d have to find it out herself.

“Ready… Go!”

Hinata started walking ahead, stepping away from everyone’s way smoothly. Her new task wasn’t about being quick, she couldn’t rush it. Rapid movements were easily detected and she had to avoid that now. She needed to keep her calm, but she just couldn’t ignore her worries.

What would people think when they found her sneaking behind their backs? What would they do? Call the chuunin currently on patrol on the roof? Would they believe Hinata when she’d tell them she was only training? What would they think of the trash bag, was she collecting purses in it?

She was nervous when she stepped behind her first target. It was a middle aged woman with grocery bags in each hand. Hinata focused on her steps, trying to fall into rhythm with her. She was limping to her right leg, so she was slower. Hinata waited for a few more seconds, then started picking up the papers on her way.

There was a tightnesst in her throat every time she leaned down. One wrong step and—

“May I help you?”

Hinata looked up. The woman watched her with a raised brow.

“No” Hinata said, frozen leaning halfway down to a chocolate wrapper. She felt her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

The woman eyed her for a few moments before she walked away.

Hinata let out a sigh. She could already tell it would take a while before she’d get the hang of this.

*****

It took them about four hours to finish with the whole street. And in the last hour Chouji could pass by more than four people before he accidentally bumped into them. Yes, he was big. Yes, he couldn’t move his body like Hinata. And once he accepted it, he found himself moving easier.

He was surprised when he realized the change. One moment he couldn’t step by anyone, and in the next he walked between two people just in time before the space between them got too narrow for him. And once he was aware of it, he felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

He’d never felt like this before. So light in his heart and so calm in his mind. All the worry about himself, all those nasty remarks that had followed him for years, those were nothing at that moment. He was himself and he did the best he could do with that. He remembered Asuma’s words about years of practice. If four hours had this effect, what would years do?

There was a warm feeling in his chest. His success made him feel something he hadn’t felt before.

He was proud of himself.

He now felt like he was worth of something. That he could be good at something.

Obviously there wasn’t much he was really good at, but there was a noticeable change.

“Alright, everyone” Asuma nodded and wrote something down in a little notebook. “Hinata, your best time is 7 minutes and 20 seconds. Good job.”

Hinata nodded, but she clearly didn’t see it as a good job.

“Sakura, Chouji. You both could almost go for four minutes without any contact. You’re getting the hang of it, I guess.”

“It’s like anything we learnt back at the Academy” Sakura said. She was exhausted just like Chouji, but despite the sweat on her brows, she looked confident with her hands on her hips. “Once we feel out what we’re supposed to do, it comes naturally.”

Asuma had a proud smile on his face, even when they were gathering the trash bags to take them to the Waste Management Center of Konoha. Chouji wondered if they were the jounin’s first team. It was like teaching was in his blood, he did it so well, so it would be a surprise if he hadn’t had any teams before the three of them.

“Thank you for your work” the man at the Center said as he bowed, then signed their mission scroll. “Have a wonderful day.”

“You too.” Asuma turned to them. “We need to go back to the Hokage Tower with this scroll.”

Chouji let out a sigh. They needed to cross half of Konoha again.

“Don’t worry, Chouji!” Asuma patted him on the shoulder. “Once we’re done with this we can eat the daifukus Hinata made for us.”

That lifted Chouji’s spirit a bit. They had left the box in the care of a nice chuunin lady back at the Hokage Tower, and this reason to get back there was better than just taking back a scroll.

“After eating we’re going back to the training ground” Asuma said as they were walking on the street leading straight to the Tower. The cliff with the Hokages’ heads was towering over the village even this far away. “Hinata and Chouji, you’ll continue climbing the tree, while Sakura tries walking on water.”

Sakura let out a long sigh, muttering about a towel and a change of shoes. Hinata smiled at the other girl and rubbed her arm gently. Sakura smiled back at her and the two started talking with soft voices.

Chouji was glad they weren’t mad at each other. Not like they'd had an argument or anything. Hinata having a crush on Naruto came out of nowhere for Sakura, but in Chouji’s opinion it had always been kind of obvious. Maybe if Sakura hadn’t been so busy running after Sasuke, she would’ve noticed. And now Sakura was getting used to this fact and had to be careful what she said about Naruto around Hinata. Or Sakura just needed to get to know Naruto too like he had done years ago. He was a sad but kind boy under all that loudness.

So he was glad for Shikamaru to be Naruto’s teammate. Shikamaru had been the first one to approach Naruto and invite him to play with them. Shikamaru, of course, had spent the whole time watching the clouds instead of joining them, but Naruto had had a great time none the less. His smiles had been getting brighter and less fake the more they hung out. And Naruto had been dragging Shikamaru into a lot of fun activities which had always amused Chouji.

He still felt sad for not being in the same team as his best friend, but he also knew it was for the best. There were so many people who disliked Naruto for various reasons, mainly never taking the time to truly get to know him. It was good to know he would spend most of his time with at least one of the few people he could call a friend. And just like Shikamaru had said, being in different teams didn’t mean they would never see each other again. They were still best friends and nothing could change that.

And…

Chouji looked back at Sakura and Hinata. Sakura was explaining animatedly something to Hinata who was listening with a soft smile and occasionally nodded.

“Hey, Kakashi!”

Chouji looked at the man walking their way. He just left through the gate of the Hokage Tower in a hurry and was looking around with quick eye movements.

He was… strange. Only his right eye was visible because of the mask and the lowered forehead protector he was wearing. Kakashi… This guy was Shikamaru’s sensei then?

“Asuma” he greeted the other jounin with a nod. “Are they the incredibly polite genin Kurenai was talking about?”

Asuma laughed at that.

“Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura and Akimichi Chouji. Guys, this is Hatake Kakashi, one of the most talented jounin you’d ever meet.”

Kakashi gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

“My, my, Asuma. Don’t let Kurenai hear about this. She’ll hex me.”

Asuma grinned and was about to say something when suddenly a concerned frown appeared on his face.

“Is everything okay, Kakashi? You look worried.”

Kakashi shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. He was smiling, and it was only indicated by the way his eyes closed. Chouji was quite impressed how expressive the man’s single visible eye was.

“It’s nothing, really. My team just finished their first mission and I sent them ahead while I dealt with some things. I’m catching up to them now. See ya!”

And with a jump Kakashi was already gone.

Chouji turned to the direction Kakashi went.

“He’s a very sad man” he said after a while.

Sakura frowned at him.

“He’s weird.”

“Weird, yes. But sad too.”

“Why do you think that?” Asuma asked, and he was looking at him so intensely Chouji for a moment didn’t know how to answer.

“I—I just think he is? He looks like a sad man.”

Asuma watched him for a while before he started walking towards the entrance gate.

“Let’s get going guys. We finish with this and we’ll have a break at the training grounds before we do anything.”

Chouji followed Asuma with Sakura and Hinata close behind him. This Kakashi was a strange man… Maybe he should ask Shikamaru about it the next time they’d meet.

*****

It seemed like Chouji was incredibly good at reading people. Kakashi was a sad man, yes, but Asuma only knew that because he’d known him for years. He knew about the death of his father, his teammates, his sensei. Everyone of their generation knew about it, but never told anyone, especially the younger ones. And Chouji only met him once for less than a minute and it was like the man’s whole life had appeared in front of him.

Asuma rubbed his chin as they walked up the stairs to the Mission Assignment Room. He should do something with this.

They just rounded the last corner to their destination when the shouting began. Asuma quickly tapped the shoulders of his genin to stop them. The three of them looked between him and the door of the Mission Assignment Room where the shouting came from with a concerned frown, waiting for him to say what to do.

“Wait here” he told them and walked ahead, careful, not to make any unnecessary sounds.

He heard three different voices. One of them was his father’s, stern but calm. Barely calm, but still calm. Asuma still remembered this tone from his childhood when he'd been scolded for something. The second voice was Iruka. Gone was the softness from his voice Asuma was used to. He’d never heard him like this. The third voice was a woman’s. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he knew he’d heard it at least once or twice before. She was the loudest of the three, and it hurt Asuma’s ear the closer he got to the door.

He soon got to the door where a little crowd gathered around. Desk chuunin and even a few jounin with their genin stood there with wide eyes and sharp ears, trying to understand what the argument inside was all about. Asuma could spot Genma not far from them talking to Raidou with a low voice. It was hard to read his lips with that senbon between them, but he could clearly see him saying ‘Kakashi’, ‘Uzumaki’ and ‘Nara’ several times.

That made Asuma frown. What had happened to Kakashi’s team on their first mission? Was it why Kakashi looked so troubled?

The door suddenly burst open and a rather large woman walked out with so much force she almost pushed Asuma away. And with the door opening the crowd scattered as quickly as possible.

“This isn’t the last you’ll hear about me!” the woman shouted back as she tightened her hands around the twisting cat she was holding.

Ah, he thought as he recognized the woman. That was the daimyou’s wife.

And she was absolutely furious. Her whole head was like a tomato with her hair out of her bun pointing in every possible direction. There was a hint of foam in the corner of her mouth. It was probably her saliva turning into that in her rage. That or she was rabid, which would be oh so unfortunate. He could already imagine the Hokage Guard Platoon putting her down while Hiruzen wrote a heartfelt letter to the daimyou.

Madam Shijimi huffed one last time before she raised her chin up and marched away with the poor cat in her hands. Asuma’s team quickly jumped out of her way, pressing themselves to the wall as she walked past them. Three pairs of eyes looked at him, waiting for his word. Asuma held up a finger to them, asking them to be patient for one more moment, and he peeked inside the room.

The desk chuunin who were still inside were terrified. They glanced at each other carefully, not knowing what to do next. Iruka was walking up and down behind the desk, one hand furiously scratching his head while he muttered something under his nose. And the Hokage was sitting there with his fingers folded in front of his face and looked like he was debating whether to throw a table out the window or jump out the window or throw the table and jump out the window. And he did all of that while he looked like the calmest Hokage that ever was. It was just Asuma who knew his father that much to notice these little differences in his expression.

“Are you closing for today?” Asuma asked. He was a bit satisfied when almost all people but his father jumped at the sudden voice. “Or we can report back.”

Hiruzen let out a long sigh.

“You may come in.”

Asuma was about to call his genin, but he paused and looked back at the Hokage.

“Is everything alright? Madam Shijimi didn’t seem to be in a good mood.”

The Third chuckled halfheartedly.

“You could say that. There’s nothing to be concerned about. Call in your genin.”

Asuma frowned at that. Of course there was a lot to be concerned about. The daimyou’s wife was an influential figure back in the capital. Her uncle was the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. If she wanted to, she could convince him to stop any trades between the country and Konoha, and there weren’t enough small-scale producers who could feed an entire village. Just the smallest conflict between the Leaf and the daimyou’s wife could cause hunger and riots. Not to mention if the daimyou would get into the conflict. They could only hope the daimyou wasn’t stupid enough to risk losing the main percent of the country’s military when the peace between the five great nations was balancing on the edge of a sword. Losing Konoha’s loyalty would cause a power vacuum the other nations would immediately try to fill in. And not equally, of course, which would result a new war.

Asuma shook his head as he turned to call his genin. He hated politics.

“Come in, guys” he said with a smile. “The coast is clear. No more screaming ladies with screaming cats.”

He heard a chuunin snorting at that, but she quickly cleared her throat and turned back to her paperwork. Soon the noise of papers and brushes filled the room as everyone continued on with their shift.

Sakura, Hinata and Chouji entered, eyes roaming the room carefully, looking for any threats. Once they made sure nothing out of the ordinary was in there, they followed Asuma to the Hokage’s desk.

“How was your first mission?” Iruka asked, smiling at his former students.

“It was great!” Sakura exclaimed. “We were practicing elusion. Asuma-sensei said we made great progress by the end of it.”

Asuma smiled down at Sakura and ignored his father’s eyes on him. He was honestly proud of these kids, but he wouldn’t let his father think it was all because of him. He wanted to use Asuma and his status as the Hokage’s son. He wouldn’t forgive him for that one.

“All three of you did great today.” He took the scroll out of one of his vest pockets and gave it to Iruka, who frowned in confusion and gave it to the Hokage. “We would like to make a claim on this mission in the future. It’s a great training exercise for the whole team.”

Hiruzen checked the sign on the scroll then signed it too and put a stamp on it.

“Zaji, make a note” he told a chuunin on the other side of the desk.

“Done, Lord Hokage” Zaji said as he finished writing.

The Hokage took the three papers Iruka handed him and signed each and put a stamp on them too, just like with the scroll.

“Congratulations” he said with a smile as he handed out the papers. “You finished your first mission. Please, take care of these documents. Keep it in a folder with every other paper you will receive after a successful mission. And…”

He took out three envelops from a metal case under the desk.

“This is your payment.”

The genin took their envelops after they signed a paper. They looked a bit nervous and it made Asuma smile.

“You did great, guys” he said. “We’ll take an other mission tomorrow. Maybe try a different one and see what training we can combine it with.”

That made Sakura’s eyes lit up. He didn’t remember much of her from the lessons he had with her class back at the Academy, but the one thing he knew was that she was excited to face any new situation. Maybe it was because she was still uncertain about her future and wanted to know what choices she had in life. Or maybe she just liked the challenge in everything she had no knowledge about.

“That would be great!” she said. “Maybe it would be something where all three of us can use our strengths.”

The three started chattering about it and Asuma turned back to the desk where his father put a paper for him to sign without a word. He was in too good of a mood because of his genin to deal with his old man. And fortunately he didn’t try to start a conversation with him either.

“Alright, everyone!” he turned back to the three children. “Let’s get our lunch and head to the training ground.”

He walked out of the room with a wave while his three genin properly said goodbye to everyone inside. Kurenai was right. His genin were angels. And he wouldn’t trade them with anyone.

*****

After eating the daifukus - which were amazing and Hinata would spoil them in no time, - and some rest, Sakura made her way to the pond.

She was too confident the other day. Once she could walk up the tree she’d thought the water couldn’t stop her. Well, it couldn’t stop her sinking into it. That was a cold reminder that she still had a lot to learn. Literally cold, because the water still had a long time to warm up.

Sakura let out a sigh and started taking off her shoes. Walking home in wet shoes was something she didn’t want to experience if she could help it. She had to blow them with a hairdryer for an hour the previous night. And, after some quick consideration she took off her kunai holder, tied up her dress around her hip and pulled up her trousers.

A tree was solid. She could easily make connection between the surface and her soles even through her sandals. Water was different. She could touch it but it slipped through her fingers when she tried to grab it. The particles were moving around and they could slide past each other, meaning that the surface under her feet was always in motion, so she had to take it into consideration while stepping on it. She needed to concentrate constantly while she was learning it. Hopefully it all would come naturally to her once she mastered it and wouldn’t have any problems with it in the future.

Sakura lifted one leg and gently placed her sole on the surface of the water. Without the sandal to stand between her and the water, maybe it would benefit her in the early stages of learning. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her skin where the water touched it. She felt the cold. She felt the tension between the water and her foot. She imagined it was a pillow. So soft, her foot can sink into it. But at one point under the right pressure the pillow would become something she could stand on. And she could stand on this water too. She just needed to find the right amount of chakra for every part of her sole and—

And she sunk to her ankle.

Sakura yanked her foot out of the water and put it back on the shore.

This wasn’t a failure. This was trial and error. And it would be a trial and error for as long as she was learning what to do. Asuma said they needed practice and for their practice to have any results, they needed time.

“Good job, Hinata!”

Sakura looked behind her.

Hinata was about a meter above the ground, carefully balancing on the tree, her feet firmly planted on it. She was sliding her feet higher and higher like she was on ice. Chouji had one foot on the tree but he was watching Hinata with his raised fists as he was cheering for her.

“You can do it!” he said.

Hinata bit her lip and stopped. She took a deep breath and slowly raised one of her feet to try and take a proper step forward.

But as soon as only one foot was keeping her on the tree, she lost her balance and started falling down. Asuma was quickly there to catch her.

“You did great, Hinata” their sensei said as he put her down on the ground. “Keep it up. Just a few more days and you can walk up without trouble.”

Even from a distance Sakura could see that Hinata’s ears were turning red. She quickly nodded and muttered a thank you, then turned back to the tree.

Sakura watched her for a while then turned back to the pond.

Hinata liking Naruto was strange. Naruto was annoying, loud and an idiot. And he didn’t leave her alone. How could a sweet girl like Hinata like a boy like Naruto? It was strange and something she would never understand.

But it was something she needed to accept. Strange or not, Hinata liked Naruto, no matter what Sakura’s opinion was. And since Hinata was Sakura’s teammate, and she honestly considered her to be a friend, Sakura needed to act like one. She needed to support Hinata, and not hurt her feelings in any way. Which meant she couldn’t treat Naruto the way she'd gotten used to.

Sakura let out a sigh when her feet sunk into the water again. That would be a lot to work on. It was difficult to change ones opinion of someone when that opinion was already solidified. But for Hinata she needed to change it. Or at least give a try to see Naruto as Hinata saw him.

*****

“Alright, guys!” Asuma clapped his hands once. The sun was setting in the west, coloring the sky with orange. “That’s it for today. See you tomorrow again at the Hokage tower!”

Sakura sat down and let out a long breath. She finally managed to stand on the water firmly with one foot, but once she raised her other leg she sunk. But it was progress. And at the end of the day Chouji could do the same as Hinata, sliding his feet up the tree for a short distance. It was good to see him finally being proud of himself for succeeding in something. She was happy for her teammate.

Sakura rubbed her cold feet and pulled on her sandals before she followed the others out of the training ground. She needed to bring a towel the next day.

“Do you guys want to have dinner at my place?” Chouji asked as they made their way down the street. “My mom wants to meet you guys.”

“Really?” Sakura asked.

“Of course” Chouji said with a smile. “We are a team, and my parents want to know you, since we’ll spend a lot of time together training and going on missions.”

Sakura was… excited. She was never invited to anyone’s place, not even Ino’s. This was something new for her.

“If it’s not a problem” she said with an uncertain voice.

“Of course not! Mom’s expecting you.”

Hinata rubbed her fingers on her right hand together. Sakura noticed she was doing it a lot when she was nervous about something.

“I’ll… need to inform my family first” she muttered.

“Then we’ll walk you home first” Sakura decided. Then quickly added. “If it’s okay.”

Hinata quickly nodded and showed them the way.

Sakura had walked past the Hyuuga compound only a few times. It was just off the main road and if one had no business that way, the street was always empty. Her father had once told her not to wander around the Hyuuga compound, and Sakura honestly had no idea why. He used to say that about the Uchiha compound too, though he hadn’t mentioned it in a long while.

“I…” Hinata started when they stopped in front of the gates. “Would you wait for me here, please?”

A bit confused, but Sakura and Chouji agreed to wait outside. Just as Hinata slipped in and closed the gate behind her, Sakura stepped closer to Chouji.

“She’s acting strange” she whispered.

Chouji frowned at her.

“Hinata’s always shy about herself.”

“No, it’s not that.” Sakura shook her head. “It’s like she doesn’t want us to know about her family. And I’m starting to get worried.”

Chouji hummed and tilted his head, looking at the gate and the clan symbol on it.

“She does get nervous when any of us mention our family. It’s like she’s jealous but she tries not to be.”

Sakura frowned. Jealous? Why would Hinata be jealous? Of Chouji and her? There was nothing special about her to be jealous of. Especially of her family.

The gate opened to a crack and she was about to greet Hinata again, when a girl she didn't know peeked out.

She looked around eight years old. She had the same eyes as Hinata, even the shape of her face and eyes were similar, but her hair was long and brown, and her skin had a light tan. She watched them with a frown.

“Are you Hinata’s friends?” she asked.

Sakura and Chouji exchanged a look, then Sakura smiled at the girl.

“Yes” she answered.

Like it was the magic word, the girl’s expression suddenly changed. A huge smile grew on her face and she jumped out in front of them, bouncing on her feet, her hair bouncing with it. Her hands were in fists like she couldn’t hold back her excitement, shaking them in front of her chest.

“Oh, oh! Hinata never had friends! I’m so excited! I’m Hyuuga Hanabi, Hinata’s sister! I’m seven years old and next spring I’ll finally start going to the Academy just like Hinata and become a ninja just like Hinata! But I’m already training with my father because the Hyuuga need to learn their techniques when they’re small and I need to hit sandbags a lot so my fingers will become stronger!”

Sakura felt the whole world spinning around her. Hanabi was the complete opposite of her sister. If Hinata was a gentle spring breeze, Hanabi was a hurricane. And she continued on with her rambling and Sakura had no idea when she was taking breaths. And she just went on and on and on—

“Hanabi!” Hinata scolded her sister when she returned, frowning at her. “Go back inside! Natsu is looking for you!”

“But Hinata!” Hanabi whined, stretching out every syllable in Hinata’s name, stomping her feet. “Your friends are so nice! Let’s invite them for dinner!”

“No” Hinata said firmly. Then quickly added. “I’m already invited with Sakura-san to Chouji-kun.”

Hanabi deflated like a balloon as her good mood vanished. She pouted for a while then quickly grabbed Sakura’s hand.

“Will you come visit us next time? Please! Please! It’s so boring in here!”

Sakura couldn’t help but smile at the girl.

“Only if we’re not a bother” she said.

Hanabi’s eyes lit up.

“No, you’re not!” And she started bouncing again. “It will be so much fun! I’ll show you my dolls and show you around the building and introduce you to Natsu and Kou and Neji and—”

“Hanabi” Hinata cut in. “Go back to Natsu. You know what Father told you.”

Hanabi quickly hugged Sakura and was back inside the gates in two jumps.

“Bye!” she said and before she could say anything else Hinata closed the gates.

Sakura almost forgot what silence sounded like.

Hinata stood with her back to them for a while, then slowly turned around, gaze dropped to the ground.

“I apoligize for my sister’s behavior.”

“Never be” Sakura hooked her arm into Hinata’s. The girl looked up at her with wide eyes. “She’s adorable. And she loves you so much.”

Hinata blinked for a while then looked down again, cheeks turning pink.

“Lead us, Chouji!” Sakura said and hooked her other arm into Chouji’s. “I’m curious about your mom’s cooking.”

As they walked back to the main road Sakura felt Hinata’s arm trembling.

Chouji seemed to be right. Whenever their families were mentioned, Hinata reacted strangely. She was seriously getting worried about her. But she knew she couldn’t ask. She shouldn’t force answers out of her. She had to wait for Hinata to open up about herself. She needed to be patient.

Until that she would make sure Hinata knew she could count on her in anything. Absolutely anything.

*****

The Akimichi house was… warm. So, so warm.

And she didn’t mean the temperature. All the colors, the decoration, the atmosphere. Everything was welcoming, like a real home should be.

It was nothing like her home. The Hyuuga compound was cold, almost freezing. The sun never really reached inside the circular gallery and all the rooms were always dark and gloomy. The people were strict, and other then disapproval no emotion was seen on their faces.

Hanabi was different. Hanabi was like a ray of sunshine that managed to get inside the darkest corridors. Hanabi was happy and innocent. Hanabi didn’t deserve to be branded.

The Akimichi clan was the complete opposite of the Hyuuga. They showed their emotions proudly, be it negative or positive. They laughed and argued and joked and talked and hugged.

It was amazing.

She was mesmerized.

Akimichi Chouza and Momoka welcomed them with open arms. They hugged her and Sakura and invited them further inside the house. The table was set with so many different meals that Hinata at first didn’t know where to start. It felt like she was at some celebration, a gala even.

“Eat it up, girls!” said Momoka as she poured everyone a big glass of juice. It was a mixture of different fruits and vegetables. Hinata could taste orange, carrot and even grapes in it, and many other she couldn’t differentiate, but it tasted amazing.

“How was your first mission?” Chouza asked.

“Good I guess” Chouji answered. “We picked up the trash. Asuma-sensei put some training exercises into it. Then we climbed the tree again.”

“And Chouji could walk up a little now” Sakura mentioned and nudged Chouji with her elbow. “Don’t forget about that.”

“That’s great Chouji!” Momoka laughed. “And you, Sakura-chan? Can you walk up the tree?”

Sakura nodded.

“I’m learning to walk on water now. I still need to practice though. I can’t put my weight on it yet.”

“Water is a tricky surface.” Chouza rubbed his chin. “You always have to adjust your chakra emission. Good luck, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura smiled.

“And you, Hinata-chan?”

Hinata was quietly eating on Sakura’s other side until now. She tried to be as unnoticeable as possible, but it seemed the Akimichi kept a close eye on everyone.

“I managed to walk up the tree a little too” she said with a low voice.

“And she did great on our mission!” Chouji added. “We were practicing elusion and she was the best in it!”

Hinata felt her ears heating up.

“Asuma-sensei said we all have strengths and weaknesses” Sakura said, “so for us to be a working team, we first need to explore those.”

Momoka laughed at that.

“It’s amazing how much Asuma changed. He used to be a rascal.”

Sakura’s eyes widened.

“No way! Asuma-sensei?! A rascal?!”

Chouza laughed at that too.

“Oh, compared to him Naruto is nothing.”

The dinner continued on with laughs and talking. Hinata kept on listening and quietly eating. She was having a good time, none the less. Honestly, she hadn’t felt this great in a very long time.

Too bad the night soon came to an end and they said their goodbyes to Chouji’s parents.

“Girls, you’re welcomed here anytime, you don’t even need to ask.”

Momoka hugged both of them, squeezing them to a point that Hinata feared her bones would crush, but she didn’t mind. She’d never been hugged like that before, and she never knew until now how much she missed and needed it.

Chouji walked them home. First Sakura since she lived the closest to Chouji, then the two of them continued on in silence. It was a nice April night. All the stars could be seen on the cloudless sky.

They soon arrived to the Hyuuga compound and Hinata was about to slip inside after a quick goodbye when Chouji put his hand on her shoulder.

“We’re a team, Hinata” he said. “We’re friends. You know you can tell us anything, right?”

Hinata stared at Chouji for a long while. Did he know? Did he somehow find out?

“I know, thank you” she said with a small smile.

Chouji nodded with a smile on his face too and walked away. Hinata watched him for a while then entered the compound.

Silent. Cold. Dark.

She hated it. She hated it with all of her heart and wanted to be as far from here as possible. But there was nowhere to go. Nowhere else where she was safe. And nowhere else where she was in the greatest danger.

She made her way to her father’s office. She knocked softly twice then entered. As always, Hiashi was kneeling at his desk working on something Hinata never dared to ask about. She kneeled down a few meters behind his back, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

“Your first mission?” Hiashi asked after a while.

Hinata swallowed.

“A success” she answered. “Asuma-sensei integrated training into our mission, then we continued practicing the tree climbing we started yesterday.”

Hiashi hummed and continued his work.

He didn’t even turn around to look at her.

Hinata felt her heart squeezing in her chest. Why? Why couldn’t her family be like the Akimichi? Why did she have to live in this cold house surrounded by these cold people who didn’t even look at her? Why? Why?

“Hinata.”

Hinata looked up quickly.

“You’re dismissed.”

Hinata’s heart was breaking. She should’ve known… Her father didn’t care about her. He disowned her. She was the disgraced daughter destined to be branded like the branch family. But why didn’t they do that already? What were they waiting for? For her to go insane in this uncertainty? Give her the seal and be done with it once and for all!

Hinata laid down on her futon and ignored the tears in her eyes as she tried to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love this team, guys D’X
> 
> I headcanon that since the Hyuuga start training at a very young age, they start the Academy later than the others, since they need to learn a different kind of basics.
> 
> I also headcanon that Asuma was the Boruto of his generation. Just think about it. Both of their fathers was/is the Hokage. Being Hokage means they don’t have much time for their families. And what would a child do in this case? Annoy the hell out of their busy Hokage fathers as much as they can. So yeah. Asuma was Boruto. You can try but can't change my mind X’D


	7. Genin – The First Missions – Version 10

Shopping.

That was it. Shopping. They had to go to the shop, buy everything on the list, and take it to some house.

That. Was. It.

What kind of mission was that? Why couldn’t everyone go to the shop themselves and buy everything they needed? Why did they have to use them? Because they were using them. That was child labor. He was sure that was a crime in some places in the world.

But they couldn’t do anything now. The Hokage gave them this mission so they had to do it. He only hoped they didn’t have to go on too many of these missions. It would be a torture.

“Alright, team” Kurenai said when they stopped a few streets away from the Hokage Tower. “The mission is clear. You need to gather everything on this list in the store. The groceries are already paid for. You take the bag to your destination and finish the mission. Simple.”

Ino raised her hand and waited until Kurenai nodded.

“Why do I have a feeling this mission won’t be that easy, sensei?"

A smile appeared on Kurenai’s face.

Oh no.

Oh HELL no.

“Ino, no” Kiba whined. “You jinxed it.”

Ino turned to him, frowning.

“Did you really think this would be it? Taking a bag across the village? We’re training to be ninjas. Of course there will be a catch in every D-Rank mission.”

Kiba let out a long groan.

“What is that catch, sensei?” Shino asked.

Kurenai looked at each one of them.

“You can only use the street when it’s empty and nobody can see you walking there. If someone notices you, you’ll have to return to the shop and start all over again.”

Kiba groaned again and now Akamaru joined him too.

“That’s impossible, sensei!”

“Nothing is impossible until you actually tried it” Kurenai said and took out a timer from one of her pouches. “I’m timing you and keep an eye on your progress. I’m not part of your exercise, you only need to evade civilians and other ninjas.”

Timing their progress. Their sensei had a lot of confidence in them. She was sure they couldn’t do it on their first try.

“You can use anything to hide yourselves. Buildings, dumpsters, any kinds of camouflage. You will go on missions in the future where you have to cross an enemy infested territory. And you better practice now when your lives are not at risk.”

Kurenai crossed her arms.

“I told you yesterday. The world of the shinobi is a cruel one. I’m here to teach you everything you’ll need in the future to survive the most dangerous missions. There may be peace now, but it can change anytime. And your age and lack of experience won’t melt anyone's heart. You’re just pawns in a greater picture. A number in the statistics.”

A smell hit Kiba’s nose. He flared his nostrils just a bit to inhale more air. It was their sensei’s smell and it changed. Just a tiny bit, but it was a change, none the less. He usually felt this smell when someone was afraid, mostly Hana after a nasty argument.

Kiba’s eyes widened slightly. Kurenai was scared. She did an excellent job hiding it from them, but she couldn’t fool his nose.

“I was around your age during the Third Great Shinobi War. Many of my friends died a horrible death. Some of them were younger than you. And no matter how much they trained, no matter how talented they were, they were only children. But not in the eyes of the ninja world. They were enemy forces, and the opposite side didn’t spare them for their age. As soon as you put this on” she pointed at her forehead protector, “you stopped being a child. You’re a soldier, and a soldier must do what their superior orders. Be grateful you were born into a time of peace. And hope you’ll have plenty of time to prepare yourselves before a new conflict arises. Because there will be a conflict. As long as humanity exists, as long as the human nature stays the same, conflicts will always be there, be it a simple argument between partners, or an international disagreement.”

Kiba dropped his gaze. Akamaru looked up at him, letting out a soft, sad whine. Yeah, he’d known what he was getting into. Hana had told him many times about her missions. He’d seen her injuries. He still remembered her sobs through the wall when her teammate had died.

He let out a sigh. Maybe he should get more serious about this ninja thing. At first he only wanted to be away from home. And becoming a ninja was the fastest way to do that. As soon as he’d start going on missions, he’d get money. And that money would be his, and only his. And he could buy a small apartment from that. Not too big, he would be happy with only one room and a small bathroom, that would be perfect for him and Akamaru. But this life was also dangerous. Any of them could die.

Well… Something for something. This was still the better option.

“Get ready, team” Kurenai looked at her watch. “I informed our client that the groceries may arrive later than expected, but I don’t want much delay.”

He turned, facing the door of the store with Ino and Shino. He could feel their mood also changed after Kurenai’s speech. He wondered what their motivation had been to become a ninja. Ino would be the next head of the Yamanaka clan but was it only that? Was it the same case with Shino too?

Maybe he was curious, but he wouldn’t ask. If he asked, they would ask him in return. And he didn’t want to answer.

*****

They entered the store. It was as simple as any of the grocery stores of Konoha. There were a few rows of shelves, a few shoppers, soft music coming from a radio, and the cashier sitting behind the counter.

“Good morning, sir” Ino greeted him politely, then looked down at the grocery list. Toilet paper, napkins, a bag of crackers, two cans of pineapple, toothpaste, a few magazines. A simple list of items, nothing that can spoil during their mission. The cans would be heavy and the crackers could break if they weren’t careful, but nothing horrible.

“Kiba, get the crackers and the pineapple. Shino, yours the toothpaste and the magazines.”

Kiba rolled his eyes.

“And who said you’re the boss?” he muttered under his breath, but he went to get the items anyway.

Ino let out a huff and went to get the napkins and the toilet paper.

They met up at the counter. Kurenai was talking with the man there, showing him the scroll of their mission.

“Good luck, guys” he told them as he checked if every item matched with the one on the list and put them in a grocery bag. “I recommend you to finish with this mission by noon. Lunch breaks start after that and a lot of office-clerks come here during that time.”

Ino took a quick glance at the clock above the man. It would be eight in a few minutes. Only the elderly and mothers with small children would be out on the streets for now. If they were lucky, they could easily evade them too.

“Kurenai-sensei” Ino turned to their teacher. “Would you give us a map of the village?”

As expected, Kurenai took a folded map out of one of her pouches and gave it to Ino. Ino paused for a moment, then turned to the boys.

“Let’s go up the roof.”

Shino followed her without any protest, but Kiba continued grunting about her being bossy with them as he grabbed the bag. Well, fuck him.

She let Kurenai out of the door first, then took a look around. A woman was walking away to the left. She waited patiently until she turned down to the right and Ino was quickly out of the door, the two boys following her. She was up on the roof with two jumps and crouched down in the shadow of a water tank. Once the boys and Akamaru arrived without trouble Ino opened the map and put it in front of them.

“So we’re here.” She pointed at the location of the store on the map. “And our destination is two and a half kilometers away, which is normally about a thirty minutes walk.”

Shino pulled a pencil out of his pocket and marked the places.

“It’s mainly a residential area” he said. “But there are a lot of parks and playgrounds.”

Ino looked around the map. There were many possible paths they could go. She had to find the safest one to their destination.

“What about this one?” She put her finger on the map and followed some streets with it. “We go to the east on this street then turn down to the south here.”

“That won’t work” Kiba said.

Ino felt her blood pressure rising.

“And why the hell not?” she asked.

“Because my sister works here.” He pointed at the street where Ino’s finger was. “A veterinarian clinic is there, specialized on ninken. A lot of ninjas go there, so we need to avoid that street.”

Huh…

For a moment Ino felt awful. Just the other day Kurenai had said that they were a team. One got hurt, all got hurt. One died, they all died. They shared the pain and the success. If the team didn’t work together, the team failed. Here, they had to start the mission all over again, out there they'd die. They needed to work together and think as one person.

But it was hard to do that. Kiba always annoyed her, and now that they were teammates she needed to live with the thought that every single one of her days had to be spent with the person that she disliked the most in her class. But she needed to change her attitude. The other day she’d told Kurenai that she was willing to change. Now was the time she should start actually doing that.

She didn’t notice she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, only when she felt a cold touch on her leg. Opening her eyes, she saw Akamaru looking at her with a tilted head.

She rubbed the back of his ear. At least the dog was cute.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, calming herself. “What do you suggest?”

After staring at her for a while, Kiba started laughing.

“Oh, look at that! Princess Ino is willing to listen to me! What is this? The end of the world?”

And that was the end of her feeling awful. She punched Kiba’s arm and snarled at him.

“Doesn’t mean I dislike you any less.”

Kiba frowned at her as he rubbed his aching arm.

“How about we go to the east until this street.” He pointed at the street two corners away from where his sister worked. “We turn down south and round this whole block from the west.”

Ino leaned closer. The buildings there were mainly civilian houses, but it had a large park in the middle. The bushes would be a great hiding place, but they couldn’t risk being seen when they leave.

“Alright. You okay with this, Shino?” she asked.

Shino nodded and lifted his hand up, all but his index finger straightened out. Not long after, a beetle crawled out from the cover of his sleeve. Ino tried to hold back a shiver, but the goose bumps still appeared on her arms. The beetle took flight and returned about a minute later and landed back on Shino’s finger.

“There are ten people in the area. Two approaching the street from the west, three from the east, the others are all moving away.”

“Alright.” Ino nodded. “Let’s move.”

They carefully went back to the edge of the building. Looking down, Ino saw Kurenai standing by the building facing the store, seemingly not paying attention. But Ino knew better. Yuuhi Kurenai was someone they shouldn’t underestimate.

“How far are the people to the east?” she asked.

Kiba sniffed the air.

“They’ll pass the street soon. The two to the west too.”

Ino looked to the left. There was a small alleyway, mainly used for storing dumpsters.

“Come on.”

Crouching, she moved to that direction and quickly jumped down. Her feet reached the ground softly. She moved to the other wall and her teammates soon followed her.

“Shouldn’t we stay on the roofs?” Kiba asked.

“No” Ino said and pointed up. Right above them a ninja jumped from one roof to the other. “We’re still close to the Hokage Tower. The messengers mainly use the roofs to get from one place to the other.”

Two people entered from the east. The three of them moved a little further back into the shadows as the two women passed the alleyway, not even noticing them. They soon rounded the corner.

“Keep close to the wall” Ino said and stepped out of the shadows.

She never imagined she would sneak around Konoha like this, but she had to admit, it provided the best training ground. Plenty hiding places, filled with unpredictable events. They had to be aware of everything that surrounded them, the buildings, the people, the animals. They had to divide their attention and observe everything they could.

She let Kiba and Akamaru in front of her at the next corner. He sniffed the air before looking around.

“Where?” he asked.

“Left then next road to the right” Ino answered.

Kiba crouched down and Akamaru jumped off his head. He quickly crossed the street and looked at the first street to the right. Looking back he softly yipped.

“Clear.”

They too crossed the street, looking at both directions, then turned down the street to the right. A line of hedge stretched out to their left on the whole street. They quickly moved behind it, crouching down between it and the wall of the first building.

“Okay…” Ino took out the map and marked where they were at the moment. “The next one is… Down this street, left, down two streets, and this whole street to the east here until we get to your sister’s workplace.”

A shadow passed above them.

Ino trembled and snapped her head up. She thought they were already detected, but it was only Kurenai following them. She stood on the edge of the roof, her eyes roaming the area.

“Shino, can you send out your bug again?” she asked.

Shino lifted a finger, but now not only one, but five flew away.

“I sent out a few to the next corners.”

“Let’s go” Kiba said and starting crawling.

Akamaru went ahead of them, stopping every time they got to an opening to an entrance. They were doing great actually. Shino with his bugs and Kiba and Akamaru with their noses could easily detect anyone around them. If they continued like this they might—

The door that hit her right in the face was something she didn’t expect.

*****

“That was 290 meters in fifteen minutes” Kurenai said back in the store.

A little boy had run out of the house the three genin had crawled by and he’d smacked the door right into Ino’s face. Kurenai had jumped off the roof right away to heal Ino’s broken nose. The girl had lost consciousness for about a minute and for that whole minute the two other genin, Akamaru and the little boy had been panicking.

“I should’ve thought about the doors” Ino groaned with a pack of frozen peas on her forehead. The broken nose Kurenai could help with, but with a headache she could not.

“Who would’ve thought about a freaking door?” Kiba asked, pacing around Ino. He was constantly wrinkling his nose, glaring at Ino’s bloody collar once in a while.

“Us, apparently!” Ino snapped then buried her head deeper into the frozen peas. “We have to think at least five steps ahead, taking into account every possible scenario.”

The door of the store opened and Shino walked in with a small paper bag in his hand. He handed it to Ino, who quickly opened it and swallowed one pill from the bottle dry.

“Thank you” she said and put the bottle into her pouch.

Kiba watched the whole scene with a horrified expression.

“How can you swallow it without drinking something?!”

“Easy. I put it in my mouth, lift my head up and—”

“No! Forget it!” He slapped both of his palms on his face, hiding behind them. “I don’t want to see this ever again!”

Kurenai cleared her throat to get the three genin’s attention.

“As I said, 290 meters in fifteen minutes. Not bad for your first try. I really liked the way you used Kiba’s and Shino’s senses while scouting the area, the quick thinking with the hiding spots, and the use of the sort period of rest for discussing the next few steps in your mission.”

And she didn’t lie. She really liked their problem solving skills, especially Ino’s. As a Yamanaka her mind was carefully trained, and Kurenai wondered how many tracks of thought she could follow simultaneously.

“Now you know what other things you have to consider. Use this experience to grow your field of attention.”

Five minutes later they were out on the street again. Kurenai followed them on the roof and in about ten minutes the genin were back behind the hedge.

The first day had been a disaster, she hoped she would soon forget about it. The second had been promising, especially seeing how the three of them came to support each other through their fears. Today was better. Ino and Kiba still needed time to accept each other, and Shino was trying to be more active around them, but he would also need time. He was more aloof than Shibi, and not as social as the others. Not that the Aburame clan liked to spend that much time outside of their family, but Shino was a worse case than she was used to with that clan. But she wouldn’t rush it. Everything would come naturally, she just hoped the disaster of the first day wouldn’t repeat itself.

The three genin were almost at the halfway point now. They were about to turn down a street when a ninja jumped down from a roof. Ino was quick to pull up a camouflage, but Kurenai knew there was no way Kakashi didn’t notice them.

Kakashi looked around the street, clearly looking for something, then looked up at her.

“Hey, Kurenai” he said and waved. “I didn’t see you standing on the roof.”

Kurenai rolled her eyes.

“Sure. Where are your genin?”

Because he was supposed to be with his genin right now, on their first mission or training them. Had he shown up at the Hokage Tower at all? Were his genin still back at the gate waiting for him? She had no idea why the Hokage allowed Kakashi to become a teacher. He was the personification of human disaster, and he shouldn’t be responsible for three children when he couldn’t even take care of himself.

Kakashi smiled up at her, putting his hand on the back of his head.

“They already finished with their mission and I sent them home to rest. Where are yours?”

Again, Kurenai rolled her eyes.

“Very funny, Kakashi. You know exactly where they are.”

“Oh, I know nothing. I just see a completely empty street. But I have to go now. I still have a lot to do.”

With that Kakashi jumped and was already three streets away.

Kurenai let out a long sigh. She didn’t like this in Kakashi. He joked and played stupid all the time, while he was still that broken little boy who lost everyone important to him in only in a couple of years. Kurenai got it. She really did. It hurt losing anyone close. But he could’ve done something to get better, and not swing between being a clown and a miserable mess. Asuma had lost his mother, but he’d talked about it. She’d lost her mother, but she’d talked about it. Kakashi needed to talk to somebody too.

“Kurenai-sensei?”

Kurenai looked down. Her genin were still hiding behind the camouflage, looking up at her, waiting for her word to go and start all over again.

Kurenai let out a sigh.

“Continue.”

*****

They were getting closer to their destination. Half a kilometer and they would arrive. It was a time consuming mission. It’d been three hours since they started their second try. The sun already reached its highest point on the sky and it was now slowly approaching the horizon again.

“Two people approaching from the left, one from the right” Shino said what his beetles had informed him about. “They will arrive in approximately one and one and a half minutes.”

They’d been crouching behind a dumpster for five minutes now. The streets were getting busier the closer they got, people leaving for a lunch break from their work.

“We’re getting nowhere like this.” Ino sat down. Her nose was getting better, but she would need a proper medical care for that later. “We’ll be stuck here for hours.”

True. Soon the children would appear since classes at the Academy would only start in a week, going to the nearby playground after lunch. Women on maternity leave would go shopping. The elderly would go for a simple walk around the block. Soon the streets would be like an anthill, constant moving from every direction.

Kiba groaned, looked around, then paused.

“Do you trust me?”

Ino frowned and followed Kiba’s line of sight. Shino did the same. Not far from them was a manhole cover.

“No” Ino declared. “I’m not going down there.”

“Ino, there’s no other way” Kiba said. “Ten more people come from the right and five from the left. You want to sit here until midnight?”

Ino leaned back and hit her head against the dumpster.

“Well shit.”

“Well…”

“Don’t you dare” she warned Kiba then crouched up. “Okay, let’s go down.”

Five minutes later they were standing in the sewers. It was a rather unpleasant place. Not just because of the smell, the little walkway was slippery under their feet and once the manhole cover was back on its place, it was dark.

“What now, genius?” Ino asked Kiba.

“I see where we have to go” Shino said before Kiba could answer.

He took off his sunglasses and put them inside his pocket. After a few blinks he could properly see. He saw the corridors and the corners, his teammates looking in his direction with a frown, Akamaru peeking out from his hiding place inside Kiba’s coat, rubbing his paws against his nose.

“Like…” Kiba started. “You can see in the dark, or something?”

“Or something” he agreed.

Shino took Ino and Kiba by the wrist and guided them down the dark corridor.

“Is it like…” Ino started now. “Your eyes are too sensitive to the light and you can see better in the dark? Is it a thing in the Aburame clan?”

Shino didn’t answer. He knew what others thought of his clan. That they were buggy not only because they kept and took care of insects. They were the odd ones in this ninja village. They rarely socialized outside of the clan and they were needed for only certain types of missions. Scouting, spying, tracking. They weren’t physically built, they had many weaknesses, one of them being their sight. And once someone found a way to immobilize their insects, they couldn’t do anything. Their chakra circulation was so dependent on them, that without them an Aburame would die shortly.

Shino stopped at the corner and looked around. There were several other corridors in each direction.

“Which way?” he asked, ignoring the fact that Ino had asked him a question and was still waiting for his answer.

“Left and the second one to the right” She answered after a few moments of thinking. “Then the first one left and we arrived to the client’s street.”

Shino started walking again, his teammates close behind him.

Most of the time, Shino had no problem with his clan. They were more peaceful then the others. He would compare it to the Nara clan. They didn’t bother themselves with issues that didn’t have a direct effect on their clan, would never punish any member of their clan, and they liked peace and silence.

But being dependent on the tiny creatures they shared their bodies with… That always bothered him.

He didn’t dislike his insects. He grew up with them, so their presence was natural to him. It was just… the why they were there in the first place that he could never understand. Why would his distant ancestors decide to share their bodies with insects? What had happened to them to come to this decision? Had it been some sort of danger? A pact maybe?

Was the legend of the Jorougumo real?

Shino pressed his lips together. He had a nightmare the previous night after he’d met the creature inside the genjutsu. He’d seen himself getting slowly consumed by his insects and he couldn’t do anything but watch as he was paralyzed by the fear. He wanted to forget about it. He wished that Torune hadn’t told him that tale when they were little… If only Kaiko had gotten there earlier before Torune could end the story…

“We’re here” he said after a five minutes long walk. “There’s an exit two meters ahead of us.”

“Can you climb up and look around?”

Shino let out a long breath.

“I don’t think I can lift the cover.”

“Then I go up” Kiba said. “Show me where the ladder is.”

Shino guided his hand to the metal ladder and Kiba was halfway up in a blink. Shino put his glasses back on then looked at Ino when he felt her tugging his sleeve.

“I’m sorry for asking” she said and Shino could hear she honestly was. “I was curious. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Shino shook his head, but when he realized Ino couldn’t see him, he spoke up:

“You didn’t offend me.”

The manhole cover was lifted above them and the light entered the dark sewers. Ino squinted, but Shino had to close his eyes. The sudden light hurt him.

“I don’t see anyone” he heard Kiba. “Shino, can you send out a bug or two?”

Shino lifted his right hand now that he didn’t have to hold Ino’s with it and he felt three beetles walking up his finger. The bugs flew out of the opening and came back not even a minute later.

“Only one. She’s not on this street and she’s leaving.”

Kiba pushed away the cover completely and climbed out.

“Come on, guys. It’s only two houses away.”

Shino started looking for the ladder with his hands, but soon he felt a hold on his wrists and his hands were gently guided to the ladder.

“There” Ino said. “You okay climbing up with your eyes closed?”

Shino nodded.

“Alright. Kiba! Help Shino when he gets up!”

Shino ducked his head when he was climbing. It was embarrassing that he needed help with the simple task of climbing up a ladder, but he appreciated his teammates’ help. Getting up he felt Kiba grabbing him under his arms and pulling him out like he was a pillow.

“There you go. Come on, Ino!”

Shino pushed up his glasses only a bit to rub his eyes. It would take about five more seconds for his eyes to adjust to the light. And when the five seconds were up he opened his eyes.

And saw that the woman that was supposed to leave on that street just appearing on the corner.

“Gu—” he started but the woman was already turning.

Many things happened in just a few moments.

“Shit!” Kiba almost yelled to what the woman raised a brow and started to look towards them.

“Body Transfer Jutsu!” Ino yelled the moment she appeared with her hands held up.

The woman suddenly slapped her hands on her eyes and turned away.

“Oh shit!” Kiba now yelled and grabbed for Ino who was falling down back into the sewers.

And Shino had to grab for Kiba, who almost fell into the hole head first.

“Ino? Ino!” Kiba started shaking Ino once they were out of the sewers, holding her by her shoulders.

“Don’t shake me!” the woman yelled from the end of the street. “You’ll break my jutsu, you ass!”

Shino looked between Ino and the woman who was speaking like Ino. Then he remembered.

“Oh. The Yamanaka Mind Transfer Jutsu.”

Kiba just stared, jaw dropped.

“There’s a dumpster on the other side of the street” Ino said with the woman’s voice. “Hide behind it. I can’t hold this for much longer.”

Shino quickly picked up the grocery bag next to Kiba who he shook a little. Kiba quickly picked up Ino’s body in his arms and they ran to the cover. As soon as they crouched down Ino opened her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Note to self, this painkiller messes with my jutsu.”

“What the hell is this jutsu anyway?” Kiba asked, helping Ino crouch down between them. “You possessed somebody?”

“I’ll tell you about it later, but first let’s finish this mission.”

The woman at the end of the street stood there for a few moments in confusion then started walking again. As soon as she disappeared behind the corner, the three of them left their hiding place and quickly ran to their destination.

*****

Finally.

Finally!

This mission felt like an eternity. This seemingly simple D-Rank mission almost took them five hours to finish. Five freaking hours for a half an hour walk from the shop to the house.

But they were finally here. And when Ino raised her hand to knock, she was so grateful to see the old woman opening the door for them.

“Good afternoon, ma’am!” Ino greeted her and handed over the bag. “We brought you your groceries.”

The woman was a little taller than Ino. She was leaning heavily on a cane with her thin arm, but her brown eyes shone with so much life, it was like a young soul trapped inside an old body.

“Thank you for your help, my dears” she said and took the bag.

“It was nothing really.”

She didn’t want to tell her about the trouble they had to go through. It would’ve been impolite, and the woman was really grateful for their help.

“I remember, back when I was young like you, I hated D-Ranks so much!” she continued, a nostalgic smile appearing on her face. “I always complained! Why couldn’t anyone do their own tasks? Why force us kids to do it?”

“Right?” Kiba agreed with a grin.

“But now I really appreciate them.” She looked at the bag, her eyes saddening a bit, but the smile stayed on her face. “Without my family I can’t really get by anymore.”

“What happened to your family?” Kiba asked before Ino could elbow him in his side.

“Oh, my husband died in the First War, and my children in the Second.”

A shiver ran down Ino’s spine. Death was a part of this world. Death was natural. Death was inevitable. But for a mother to outlive her children? How cruel was that? The new life that should’ve carried on the legacy of the family, to bring the next generation to this world had suddenly ended, leaving a mother all alone with the memory of that short life and the once hopeful dreams of the future that never bore a fruit.

Death was cruel. Death was a merciless force.

“I—I’m sorry…” she stuttered. “My teammate—”

“Oh, my dear!” The woman put down the grocery bag and reached out for Ino’s hand. “I am sorry for bringing this up in front of you. I can see it in your eyes.”

Ino blinked rapidly. Saw it? What did she see? How much emotion did she allow to slip out and show itself on her face?

“I’d like you to sign this scroll, ma’am.”

Kurenai stepped between the two and the woman finally let go of Ino’s hand. Ino took a few steps back then turned her back to everyone.

Her face was damp. Her eyes stung.

She quickly rubbed her eyes with her sleeves and took a few deep breaths to compose herself.

Death was a part of this world. Death was natural.

She felt her teammates’ eyes on her, but she ignored them. She didn’t want to see their pity. That time inside the genjutsu the other day was enough for a lifetime. All she had to do was ignore everything remotely related to it and she’d be good.

“Four hours and twenty-one minutes” Kurenai announced a minute later. Ino turned around, still ignoring their looks as she stood next to Kiba and Shino. “Kiba, going down the sewers was a good idea. You should always keep an eye on an alternative route in case of emergency. Though it wasn’t the most sanitary place to take the groceries. Consider this too next time. Shino, you used your insects’ scouting abilities well. Thinking five steps ahead requires knowing where the potential enemies are in the area. Ino, your quick thinking and the use of your clan’s jutsu saved your team. Out on a dangerous mission this would save lives.”

The praise felt great coming from Kurenai. She was strict, didn’t stand unnecessary conflicts, but she was fair and made sure to have at least one good word to everyone. She was only angry at them when they were asking for it with their behavior, but never scolded them for any mistakes they did during their mission. She’d pointed them out, yes, but she presented them in a way they could learn from.

Even regarding the first day’s disaster, Ino was convinced Kurenai would be a great teacher.

“Now go home and take a shower” Kurenai said and wrinkled her nose a bit. “You smell really bad. We’ll meet at the Hokage Tower in an hour and a half to hand in the mission scroll.”

Ino was grateful she didn’t have to meet the Hokage while she smelled like the sewer she walked through. But before that she had to go home, which wouldn’t be a great walk through the whole village.

“See you guys then” she said with a wave and started walking away.

She tried not to think about it, but the thought was stubbornly stuck I her head, and as she looked at the people on the street she couldn’t help but wonder… Were they like that old woman? Had they lost someone in a war too? Did they still miss them? Think about what would’ve been if they were still alive? How many people would live in Konoha if not for all that bloodshed? Would have their children and the children of their children been her friends? That was… a terrifying thought to think about…

“Kakashi-sensei! Finally!”

Ino stopped and looked at the source of the voice.

She was just passing Ichiraku Ramen and on one of the stools sat Naruto. He had several empty bowls in front of him. The ‘Kakashi-sensei’ he was grinning at was the same ninja that almost spotted them. The weird one with a single visible eye.

“You said we would come here to eat ramen after the mission” Naruto continued, eyes bright with happiness. “And it’s your treat!”

Ino felt a shiver running down her spine. Naruto was... how should she say it... He repulsed her. Every time he'd been too close to her a feeling most similar to nausea filled her body, but more on a mental level. It was hard to explain to anyone who wasn't a Yamanaka so she never bothered. She'd kept her distance from Naruto as much as she could at the Academy. She hadn't even bothered to get to know him, as cruel as it sounded. She just... didn't want her mind to feel sick...

The man called Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh really? Did I say that?”

“Don’t play stupid, Kakashi-sensei” Shikamaru said, only his leg visible under the drapes.

“Me? Playing?” Kakashi stepped inside the ramen stand, letting the drapes fall behind him. He sat down next to—

Ino turned and left in a rush. She was almost running.

It would’ve been mortifying if Sasuke noticed her like this, smelling like shit.


	8. Genin - The First Missions - Version 7 - part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh… I had a really long week. My sister got married so we had a lot of work to do :D I had the week off and so many things concentrated into that one week that it felt like two long weeks without any rest. I didn’t do much writing, but I’m still not catching up to myself :)
> 
> Also... *clears throat* *vine voice:* When will you learn? When will you learn! That your actions have CONSEQUENCES!

The next week wasn’t their best, and a lot of that had to do with him.

After their first D-Rank mission, they continued on with them. Most of them ended before they could even start. The moment people saw Naruto appearing at their porch they suddenly didn’t need any help anymore.

“I’m already done with it” said a man who needed them to unpack some boxes.

“My nephew can help” said a woman who needed them to pull out the weeds in her garden.

“I’ll take care of that myself” said an other man.

“I don’t need your help anymore.”

“I’ll deal with it myself.”

So in a way they failed a lot of missions. And the small number of those that they could start came to a disastrous end.

It wasn’t Shikamaru’s fault he snapped whenever they made a remark at Naruto.

“I don’t know why I’m allowing such an ugly creature like you into my home” one woman said.

“Yeah, I would say the same if I looked this ugly like you” Shikamaru told her.

“Move your ass, demon!” a man yelled.

“You move your fat ass, you son of a bitch” Shikamaru told him.

He just knew the Hokage’s desk had piles of civilian complaints by now because of him, but did anyone seriously expect him to stay silent when people were cruel to his friend?

“You’ll get all of us in trouble with your retorts” Sasuke told him at the end of their fifth day as a team when they were walking home after training.

“Unlike you, I can’t stand people talking like this to my friend. Not like you want to be friends with any of us.”

Sasuke was still acting like a prick. Most of the time he ignored Shikamaru and Naruto, distancing himself from them. It was like Kakashi’s survival mission had never happened and the teamwork they’d finally found never existed. They were just a necessary obstacle Sasuke needed to get closer to his so called ambitions.

Sasuke frowned, the lines between his brows getting so deep the two almost touched.

“Being teammates doesn’t mean we have to be friends” he said and turned to the right at the next corner. His fists were clenched as he walked away, but Shikamaru turned his attention away from him. He didn’t care about Sasuke. Once a prick, always a prick. He wouldn’t waste his time with him.

Their series of failed D-Rank missions came to an end with a disaster on the seventh day.

It was a baby sitting mission. A young woman greeted them at the door. She held a baby, no older than four months, in her arms. Naruto leaned a little towards it, eyes shining with wonder at the sight.

“Hello, little baby” he whispered softly.

The baby responded well to his approach. It blinked and reached out with grabby hands.

Everything was fine at the beginning, and it seemed like that they would finally manage to finish a mission, but then the woman said:

“Unfortunately, I need the help of some bratty genin to look after my child.”

And Shikamaru just snapped.

“If you or your family can’t look after a baby and you need some bratty genin to look after it, then why would you even give birth to one?”

And looking back at it, maybe he should’ve kept his mouth shut. In the past week he had been so focused on every bad word directed towards Naruto, that he didn’t realize the woman’s remark was directed towards their team as a whole.

Long story short, he fucked up. Really fucked up.

The woman’s eyes widened in horror. She held her baby to her chest like he threatened her to take it away and never give it back. Then once she woke from her shock she stared at him with pure rage. Her eyes darkened and her lips started trembling.

“Dude!” Naruto hit his arm. “What was that for?!”

Shikamaru looked at Naruto with one raised brow because Naruto should've known exactly why he had said that. But then he noticed that even Sasuke was staring at him with indignation, and wasn’t that just wonderful.

“We are really sorry, ma’am” Sasuke said and grabbed both of them by the arm and pulled them far away from the woman before she could smack him down with her raised hand.

They stopped only when they were three streets away. As soon as they stopped, Shikamaru yanked his arm out of Sasuke's hold.

“The heck was that?” Sasuke asked looking at Shikamaru, his voice low and threatening.

“You know exactly what that was for” he told him, voice the same as Sasuke’s. “I can’t believe it doesn't bother you how some people treat your teammate.”

Naruto stepped between them before they could continue their argument.

“Shikamaru, you need to stop this. You’ll make the whole village angry at you.”

“I think it’s already too late for that” Sasuke pointed out. “He’s been doing this for a week now. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’d be banned from going on any mission at all. Because if one of us makes a mistake, the whole team would be punished too. Or am I wrong?”

Kakashi arrived just in time to stop Shikamaru from strangling Sasuke.

“Go home, children” he ordered them. He didn’t sound angry, not even irritated. But he looked a bit disappointed.

Shikamaru turned and left without a word. He took the long way home to cool himself down. He was angry at the village, he was angry at Sasuke, but most of all he was angry at himself for losing his rational mind so fast. It wasn’t like him to act like this. All the Nara acted according to logic and never let their emotions lead their actions. He needed to sort this out in himself and come to a solution to control his temper. It wouldn’t be beneficial for his team in the long run.

Getting home, he got the lecture of his life from his mother. Because of course she knew the young woman with the baby.

*****

When the Hokage wanted to see someone in his office, it was usually because of two reasons. He either wanted to discuss a confidential mission, or he wanted to lecture someone. Kakashi was expecting the latter.

He wasn’t even a jounin sensei for a week, and his team was already in trouble. It hadn’t been their intention to get into it in the first place, he was well aware of that. Naruto was horribly mistreated by the villagers, no wonder almost everyone had sent them away once they saw the boy. And those who had reluctantly accepted their help got a spiteful remark from Shikamaru the moment they said anything negative about Naruto.

Kakashi let out a sigh. He was glad that Shikamaru was a true friend to Naruto, but if Konoha went bankrupt because of it, the power of friendship wouldn’t be a convincing excuse. The daimyou’s wife was already suing the village for that one word.

Maybe that was the reason the Hokage wanted to see him. All the trouble because of one stupid word.

But deep down he was proud of his troublemaker genin. It was good to see that they were standing up for each other. It was something he hadn’t done for his own teammates. Naruto and Shikamaru were doing it perfectly. He just needed to do something with Sasuke.

He knew Sasuke’s pride and grief was the main reason he wanted nothing to do with his teammates. His behavior was so familiar, it hurt Kakashi every time he saw his interactions with Naruto and Shikamaru. He was eagerly waiting for a turning point, but he also dreaded it. If it would be anything like his…

No, he shouldn’t think like that. This team wouldn’t meet the same fate as his. He wouldn’t allow it, even if it would cost him his own life.

He raised his hand to knock but the door opened before that.

And he came face to face with none other than Shimura Danzo.

“Hatake Kakashi” he said, leaning on his cane. “I heard about your team. Troublemakers. But what should one expect from a team with a sensei like you, really.”

Kakashi held back any emotions that tried to show themselves on his face. There weren’t many people that Kakashi despised, but Danzo was one of them. The way he’d treated Tenzou, and how he’d tried to kill Kakashi himself was enough reason for him to hate the man, and who knew what other businesses he was hiding from everyone but his organization.

Danzo didn’t wait for a response – not that he would’ve gotten any – and left. Kakashi saw the ANBU guards moving in the shadows, following him to escort Danzo back to his house arrest. He waited until all of them disappeared behind the curve of the corridor before he entered the office.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk, fingers folded before his face. Shikaku stood to his left, back to the door, looking out the window with crossed arms. The mood was so freezing. Kakashi felt goose bumps forming on his back.

“You wanted to see me, Lord Third?” Kakashi asked.

“Close the door, please.”

Kakashi did, and soon strings of seals ran up the wood.

“Thank you, Ape.”

An ANBU ninja moved back to the cover of the shadows.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck. If the Hokage activated the soundproof seal and the only ANBU allowed in here was his own daughter, the topic of their conversation would be more serious than he’d initially thought.

“I’ll have to repeat myself, Lord Third” Shikaku started with a low but not less threatening voice. “If there is one person in this village that should be eliminated right away, it’s him. And I would gladly do the honors.”

If the door wasn’t right behind him, Kakashi would’ve taken a step back. A Nara saying anything related to killing someone was the kind of person not even Kakashi wanted to meet on his own.

“And I’ll repeat myself too, Shikaku. No. We’ll discuss this later.” The Hokage unfolded his fingers and turned his attention to Kakashi. “What do you think of your team?”

Kakashi was still watching Shikaku when the Hokage asked him. Then he looked at him with a frown. Was that a tricky question? Would Danzo snatch his genin away the moment Kakashi said anything against them? He wouldn’t be surprised if Danzo had been here to suggest that. Let the genin be sent to the Root so they would learn discipline.

“I’m keeping them” he said firmly.

A small smile was hiding in the corner of the Hokage’s lips.

“Good to hear, but I wasn’t asking that. What do you think? How can we solve this problem?”

Kakashi stepped closer to the desk.

“If by problem you mean the unfortunate end of our D-Rank missions, then I don’t think we can beat some manners into three quarters of the village. Violence is not the best way to change anyone’s opinion for the best. Joke aside, we can’t change how the whole village treats Naruto, and Shikamaru won’t hold back his opinion about the matter either anytime soon.”

Shikaku let out a sigh and turned around. He looked more tired than Kakashi had ever seen him. He had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept in days. Kakashi had a feeling it had a lot to do with one very influential lady with a cat in the capital.

“Shikamaru’s very protective of his friends, but he’d never gone such lengths for Chouji before” he mused.

“And we need to find a solution before the villagers stop hiring our genin and cause us some serious financial troubles.” The Hokage opened a drawer to his right and took out a scroll. “I’m giving your team a C-Rank mission.”

Kakashi had to replay the Hokage’s words many times in his head before he finally understood what he meant.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing serious” the Hokage reassured him. “It’s only a C-Rank because it’s an hour long walk away from the city gate and would take more days to finish.”

Kakashi took the scroll from the Hokage and started reading through the paper.

“A friend of mine has a little farm there” the Hokage explained. “He needs help since he got injured recently and his daughter can’t do everything on her own.”

Kakashi hummed as he finished with the scroll. This actually sounded like a good solution. Maybe the only solution they had. His team wouldn’t need to deal with the villagers, and they could also finish a mission finally.

“You’re expected to work there until Takuya tells you you're finished. You may decide if you want to remain there for a few more days.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow morning then” he told the Hokage and put away the scroll before he left.

His genin would definitely complain about it, but if they wanted to accomplish anything in their lives as a ninja, they needed to do missions like this. And they should be grateful for the opportunity, really, and that their Hokage was kind enough to find a solution to their problem.

Not that Minato wasn’t kind. He was the kindest of them all, in his opinion, but still a firm leader. His soft and friendly smile was his greatest tool to deceive every single enemy of his, be it on the battlefield or in the office.

He sometimes wondered what kind of a world they would be living in if Minato hadn’t died. He’d been the Hokage for little more than a year. He could’ve accomplished so much if he’d had just a little more time.

*****

Ever since becoming a ninja, he was feeling worse and worse.

He knew things wouldn’t get better in a moment. He still had a long road ahead of him, and he still needed to show the villagers he was better than they thought. That he could do great things with all that he had and would learn as a ninja.

But they weren’t even giving him a chance. Maybe he shouldn’t have played all those pranks with them. Then things would’ve been better.

He shook his head.

No. Things wouldn’t be better at all. The villagers would still hate him for the Fox locked inside him. No matter how good or bad he did, people would only see the demon and not the person he was.

“What is it, Naruto?”

Naruto blinked and looked back at Konohamaru. He was getting better at creating Shadow Clones. Now two were standing next to him, so all three of them looked at Naruto curiously.

“Nothing” he said. “I was just thinking.”

Konohamaru lowered his hands and the two clones disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Is it because you became a ninja?”

Naruto gaped once.

“What?”

“You’re not acting like yourself ever since you started working with your team. Is becoming a ninja that bad?”

Was it showing that much? That he wasn’t feeling so good about this anymore? He tried to hide it and act like he always did, but it seemed like it was too much for him to handle.

“Of course not!” Naruto said and put a hand on his hips. “It’s just that when you become a ninja, you have a lot of responsibilities. You can’t just lay around and be lazy. You have to work a lot! And train a lot! To become the best ninja that ever was!”

Konohamaru’s eyes lit up hearing that.

“I will work and train a lot too! You’ll see that I will be the best ninja!” He pointed at Naruto. “Even better than you!”

“Haha! I’d like to see that!”

“There you are, Naruto.”

Naruto turned around. Kakashi was walking to him with his hands in his pockets.

“I was looking for you but you weren’t at home” he said when he stopped in front of him.

Naruto swallowed and stared up at his teacher with wide eyes. Kakashi knew where he lived? Was he inside his apartment? Did he see how it looked? Did the others know too? He didn’t want them to see it. Then they would know how he lived and he would rather die than see the disgust in their eyes.

“Naruto's teaching me ninjutsu!” Konohamaru yelled and it quickly pulled Naruto back to the present. He got so scared that he forgot Konohamaru was standing next to him.

“Oh, is he?” Kakashi smiled, glancing at Naruto.

“He’s a great teacher” Konohamaru continued. “When I grow up, I want to be a great ninja like him!”

Kakashi chuckled.

“Don’t we all?” Then he turned to Naruto. “Pack a bag with three sets of cloths. We’re leaving on a mission tomorrow morning.”

Naruto stared at Kakashi, now with surprise.

“We’re leaving the village?”

“The Hokage’s friend got injured and he can’t work on his farm” he explained. “We’re helping his daughter around the house.”

Naruto nodded and turned to Konohamaru.

“See Konohamaru? A good ninja is always there to help others.”

Konohamaru’s eyes were shining as he looked at Naruto.

“I can’t wait to go on missions too!”

“Train a lot then! But now I have to go and get ready. See you, Konohamaru!”

The two waved at each other and Naruto turned to leave.

And Kakashi was walking next to him.

Naruto glanced up at his teacher. Why was he following him? And how long would he follow him? Did he want to talk about his apartment? It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t clean it every week. He could rarely buy anything for cleaning in the store and when he could the cashier would want more money than the actual prize. And the soap he rarely found he used for himself and his cloths. He’d rather live in a dirty apartment than go outside smelling bad.

And where would he get three sets of cloths to take on this mission? He had an other pair of trousers like this, but it was too big for him. And the one he was wearing was getting too small. He had a few underwear but only two shirts that fit. And one was on him at that moment. And since they couldn’t finish any missions yet he didn’t get any money to buy new ones. He knew he could ask the Hokage to help him, but he didn’t want to be a bother.

Not that he wasn’t one already. They couldn’t finish any missions because of him. Shikamaru got into trouble because of him. He was the cause of the trouble the team was in.

Maybe that was why Kakashi was following him. He wanted to talk about this. To ask him to leave the team and give his place to someone who deserved it more than him. Yes, that was probably it.

He bit his lower lip. He didn’t want to cry right now. Back at home he would, but not right now.

“Konohamaru admires you a lot” Kakashi said suddenly.

Naruto stayed silent. That wasn’t how he expected Kakashi to start his speech, but he should wait it out. It would come at any moment.

“And your encouragements and optimism motivates him immensely. He was always a troublemaker but it was all because he needed some attention from his family. You know, his parents are away on missions a lot, and his grandfather is the Hokage. So most of the time he was alone. And let’s face it. Ebisu is not a great company.”

Naruto couldn’t help but laugh at that. Ebisu was strict and arrogant. And also a pervert.

“But then he met you” Kakashi continued, looking down at Naruto. “And you actually spent time to listen to him, and look at him now. You became his idol, someone he wants to follow to become a great person.”

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder to stop him, then crouched down and looked into Naruto’s eyes. Naruto frowned down at him, not really knowing what was going on.

“Your seemingly nothing response to this child’s silent plea for attention made him work for a goal he set in front of himself. You gave him a purpose when others left him to aimlessly drift away. Your small act of kindness was so significant in his eyes, that now you became a standard he wants to reach. And it was all because you were yourself.” Kakashi pointed at Naruto’s chest with his other hand. “Because you are a great person, Naruto, never forget that. It doesn’t matter what others say, because they don’t know you, the real you, and they have no right to judge you.”

Naruto’s lips started trembling.

“Even if—” he started but quickly slapped a hand on his mouth. He had no idea who knew and who didn’t about the Fox. Did Kakashi know? If he didn’t, would he change his opinion about him? Would he take back everything he just said and chase him away?

But Kakashi smiled under the mask.

“Even if” he said and stood up. “I have to go now. And you have to go home too to rest before the mission. See you at the gate at six in the morning.”

Kakashi waved and walked away. Naruto stared at his back for a while then turned around to leave too, but he remembered something he forgot to ask.

“Does this mean I—” he started but Kakashi was already gone.

Did this mean he’d stay in the team?

It did, right? Kakashi didn’t care what the villagers said about him. He didn’t care about the Fox sealed inside him.

Naruto quickly rubbed his eyes and made his way home. He was staying in the team. He had friends in this team who didn’t care about other’s opinion. Sasuke was still a jerk, but he didn’t mind. As long as Shikamaru and Kakashi continued to treat him like they did, he didn’t mind Sasuke.

Naruto opened the locks on his door and stepped inside. The air was stale as always after the day and he quickly moved to the windows to open them. Now that he was home he would know if anyone wanted to throw in something. Not that it had stopped some from breaking his windows with rocks in the past, but getting some old shutters from the garbage helped a lot.

So he moved to open the windows. Or he would’ve, if not for the thing he almost fell over.

With a frown Naruto searched for the switch on the wall and turned on the lights. The light bulbs’ light was getting dimmer, but he still could clearly see the backpack in front of him. Naruto sat down to take a closer look at it.

It was a simple black backpack with some smaller pockets on the side. By the weight of it, it was full, so Naruto carefully opened it and started to take out the things inside.

Six simple black shirts. A light sleeveless shirt that by the touch of it seemed to be an armor he could wear under his shirt. Three trousers, the same color as his, but longer. Naruto tried it to his leg. It was his size. There were other things, like some underwear, protein bars, soap, first aid kit, kunai, shuriken, and some scrolls.

He felt a tear rolling down his cheek.

With trembling hands Naruto carefully put everything back into the backpack and hugged it to himself.

What did Kakashi say? Small acts of kindness?

He was right. Giving it felt like nothing, but receiving it? It felt great.

*****

Shikamaru sat at the table. Still. They already finished with dinner, but he still sat there with his father facing him while he heard his mother washing the dishes.

He was expecting the second lecture of his life.

“How was your first week as a genin?” Shikaku asked. Right to the point, but still some distance away from the actual matter, so Shikamaru could lead the conversation there.

But he had no patience for that right now.

“It was bad, and you know exactly why, because we wouldn’t talk right now. We went on missions, people treated Naruto badly, I couldn’t stand it without a word, and now we’re in a mess because of me. End of story. I’m sorry, but my friend was mistreated.”

“Apologizing won’t save the village from a collapsing economy.”

Shikamaru’s eyes widened. It wasn’t that bad, right? He was just one genin, how could he alone ruin a whole village’s economy?

“There are less D-Rank missions” Shikaku answered. Maybe he saw the question on his face. “The villagers don’t want a certain team of genin to show up at their door, so they don’t send in requests to the Hokage Tower. Less D-Rank missions mean less easy money for Konoha, and less easy money means financial troubles for the whole village. Just because one certain Nara genin had the nerve to sass.”

Shikamaru’s hands started shaking in anger.

“I wasn’t sassing!” he snapped. “They were cruel to Naruto! They shouldn’t be surprised that those words actually hurt!”

Shikaku rubbed his forehead.

“Shikamaru, you need to learn what battles you have to fight and what situations you have to ignore.”

“Well I won’t ignore these ones!”

“Shikamaru—”

“Dad, you didn’t hear them! They called him a demon! Some even talked about how they would celebrate his death!”

“Shikamaru—”

“Do they even hear what they are saying?! Are these people all insane?! How could they say something like that to a ki—”

“Shikamaru!” Shikaku shouted and hit his fist on the table.

Shikamaru actually jumped in his seat and shut his mouth so quickly that his teeth painfully clicked together.

His father never raised his voice. There was never a need to. Shikamaru had always been an easy kid to deal with, mainly because he was too lazy to do anything a kid was usually scolded for. Like talking back. Or running and breaking stuff in the house. The only one who ever raised their voice in this house was his mother. But she only did that when she got frustrated with her lazy husband and lazy son. But compared to his father right now, his mother was nothing.

He felt like the enemy ninja who happened to come across his father in a battle. The anger that radiated from him was nothing he ever felt before. And all the anger, all the frustration Shikaku felt was all because of Shikamaru. Because he couldn't stay silent, and now his father had to deal with the consequences.

For the first time in his life, Shikamaru was actually afraid of his father.

A heavy silence spread out in the house. Yoshino stopped whatever she was doing in the kitchen and even the birds outside went quite. Shikaku stared at Shikamaru, fist trembling on the table, then he let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“The one thing you should’ve gotten from me, but no, you had to get it from your mother…” he muttered under his breath.

Shikamaru had no idea what that one was supposed to mean, but he was still too scared to react in any way.

Shikaku sighed again then leaned back in his chair, more relaxed.

“I’m glad you’re friends with Naruto. I really am. But even if you don’t care about the village, think about it this way. What would cause more harm to him? If you too ignore all these remarks like Naruto does and support him in any way you can, or if you talk back, fuel the anger the villagers already have, and encourage them to be more cruel?”

Shikamaru dropped his gaze on the table.

He hadn’t thought about that…

He heard Shikaku standing up. There were footsteps then a heavy hand settled on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

“You’re going on a mission with your team tomorrow. You’ll help on a farm. Pack some cloths and be at the Gates at six in the morning.”

Shikamaru stood without a word and walked to his room. He threw some things into a backpack and laid down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

*****

Naruto was hopping down the street the next morning, wearing his very new trousers and his very new backpack on his back. His smile was so wide it almost hurt, but he couldn’t help it. He was still part of the team. He got a new backpack with cloths in it that fit him. At that moment he was the happiest genin in Konoha.

It didn’t take long to get to the main gate of Konoha. It was still closed, but the chuunin at the port were already there, looking through some papers.

Not so far from them stood Sasuke with his arms crossed. Naruto turned his way and walked to him.

“Morning!” he greeted him, not caring about the huff he got as an answer. This morning there wasn’t anything that could make his mood worse.

“Why are you so jumpy?” Sasuke asked, eying him suspiciously. “Did you smoke something?”

That was a good try to anger him, but not this morning. It was too good for someone like Sasuke to ruin it.

“I’m happy, that’s all” he said as he looked down the street, waiting for the others to arrive.

Shikamaru joined them about five minutes later. He looked… bad. Like he hadn’t slept at all, which was impossible. Shikamaru just had to put down his head anywhere and he was sleeping in a blink.

“Morning” he muttered and leaned against the wall next to Naruto, hands deep in his pockets.

“Are you alright?” Naruto asked. “You don’t look so good.”

Shikamaru shrugged.

“Had a long night.” He let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. “The closest farm to Konoha is an hour long walk away. What a drag.”

“What did you expect when you decided to become a ninja?” asked Sasuke. “That you could sleep all day doing nothing? Do you even want to be a ninja?”

Shikamaru slowly put down his hand and turned to Sasuke. His expression darkened a bit.

“Do _you_ even want to be a ninja?” he asked back with a low voice. “Because wanting to kill someone is not—”

“Cut it out, you two!” Naruto spoke up. “We can go outside the village for the first time! Isn’t it exciting?”

“There’s nothing exciting outside the village” Sasuke said and stepped away from the wall. “Only trees.”

He walked away from them and didn’t return until Kakashi arrived ten minutes later. Shikamaru also didn’t say a thing until that, and Naruto just knew he shouldn’t bother him. No matter how much he tried to hide it, Shikamaru was in a really bad mood.

“Good morning, children” Kakashi said after he landed right in front of them. He was about five minutes late, not as bad as usual. “Are you ready to leave?”

Naruto hopped to Kakashi, huge grin on his face, hands grabbing the straps of his bag.

“Yes!” he said, then he added with a lower voice. “Thank you, Kakashi-sensei.”

Kakashi smiled down at Naruto and ruffled his hair.

“Then get ready, children. We’re going now.”

He’d never been outside the village. He’d been wondering sometimes what could be beyond the gates of Konoha. It was like a magical place in his mind that he could only see from the top of the Hokage mountain.

But so far nothing. Sasuke was right, there were only trees as far as the eyes could see. No wonder their village was ‘hidden in the leaf’.

But Naruto was still excited. He wasn’t in the village anymore. For the first time nobody looked at him with a frown, nobody whispered behind his back. There was nobody but his team. And apart from Sasuke being Sasuke as always, Naruto had a great time with the others.

“What kind of farm are we going to?” he asked Kakashi.

“Don’t expect a big farm. It’s just for two people. There are some vegetables, a few apple trees and some animals. We’re only needed because the owner got injured in an accident.”

“What kind of animals?”

“Chickens. And cows, I guess. Maybe a horse to pull the cart.”

Naruto hadn’t seen many animals in real life, apart from the usual city animals. Dogs, cats, rats, all kinds of birds and bugs. Bugs he didn’t like, they went into his apartment every time during a long rain. Birds pooped on his cloths when he dried them on the sun. Dogs barked at him, maybe more than at anyone, and now he knew why. He got along with cats the most. He always put a little food and water next to his door for them, and in return they hunted the rats. Farm animals would be new for him.

“Deer are better” Shikamaru said. He spoke the first time since they’d left Konoha. “And smarter than chickens and cows.”

“How do you know?” Naruto asked.

“My family has deer” he explained. “We make medicine out of their antlers.”

Naruto frowned.

“Does it hurt them?”

“Not at all.” Shikamaru smiled. “We would never hurt the deer. It’s natural for them to lose their antlers every year, and we gather those.”

Naruto nodded and looked ahead. He could easily imagine it in his mind: Shikamaru napping in the grass, sleeping or watching the clouds, while the deer peacefully ate leaves around him. It suited him more than becoming a ninja.

Not that he doubted that Shikamaru would be a great ninja. He came up with a great plan on their survival mission. But he loved being lazy.

“I’ve never seen a deer before” he said. “I really want to see one!”

“That won’t be possible.”

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, frown on his face.

“Why not?” he asked, confused.

“Only the Nara and a selected few can enter the forest. It’s sacred. The deer would attack anyone else.”

Oh…

Too bad. Naruto really wanted to see a deer in real life. He was curious about them now. But if it wasn’t possible, then it wasn’t possible.

They continued on their walk in silence. Then they reached the end of the woods and arrived to a small settlement.

It was a bigger clearing inside the forest. There were only a few houses, and compared to Konoha it was so peaceful Naruto suddenly had a feeling that he wanted to stay here and never return to the Leaf. A few people were walking on the only street between the houses, smoke came out of a few chimneys, and he could hear cows and chickens not far away.

“Here we are” said Kakashi and led them to one of the houses.

*****

Small houses, few people. Cats and dogs running around freely, like they were the pets of the whole settlement. Children running down the street, laughing, without a care about the world. Old women sitting on a bench, sewing something together while they chatted with each other.

It was an idyllic place. Like there wasn’t a Hidden Village about an hour of walk away from here. Like the people here didn’t know how dangerous the world was all around them. Its close proximity to Konoha made it an easy target if the village was attacked by any enemy forces. It could even become an enemy base, an important location to form a blockade around Konoha and cut any connections to the outside world. They could easily starve out the whole village in the long run.

Sasuke mentally shook his head. He shouldn’t think about things like that. The Five Great Nations were at peace now. Nobody would want to attack Konoha.

Nobody from the outside at least.

But from the inside…

Sasuke clenched his fists in his pockets. His nails dug deep into his palms, almost drawing blood. The pain helped. Sometimes the pain helped a lot. It pulled his mind away from the thoughts he wanted oh so much to forget.

“There it is.” Kakashi stopped in front of a door and knocked on it. It was the last building of the settlement, a bit secluded from the others. It was similar in style, but slightly wider.

The door slowly slid open, just enough so the person inside could peek out.

“Are you the ninja?” the person asked. It was a girl.

“Yes” Kakashi answered. “Sarutobi Hiruzen sent us.”

The girl narrowed her single eye that was seen.

“Let them in, Chihiro!” a man’s voice was heard from inside the house.

The girl let out a sigh and opened the door so they could enter. She was probably the same age as them, a little shorter than Naruto. She had hazel eyes and short brown hair. Despite they were allowed to come inside, the girl stared at them as they took off their sandals like they were not welcomed at all, at least by her.

“Welcome, Kakashi-san” the man greeted them once they went further inside the house. A man in his forties, eyes and hair similar to the girl’s. One of his arms was in a cast from shoulder to fingers, resting in a sling tied at his neck. “Thank you for coming. Sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s not a bother, really” Kakashi shook his head, smiling. “Takuya-san, these are my students. Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru.”

“Welcome, children.” The man smiled at them. “And I think you met my daughter, Chihiro.”

The girl walked past them to her father, still eying them with suspicion.

“I told you I don’t need help” she told him, ignoring the fact that they could hear her. Or she said that because they could hear her. “I can take care of the farm alone.”

The man frowned at his daughter.

“We talked about this. I have faith in you, but I don’t want you to work yourself to death."

“I won’t!” the girl protested but with a single glance her father could make her stop arguing. She crossed her arms and looked away with a pout.

The man turned back to them, smiling.

“I’m sorry for my daughter’s behavior. She doesn’t trust strangers. I’ll walk you around.”

Their first destination was their rooms. Unfortunately, Sasuke had to share one with Naruto and Shikamaru. He wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in the same room as them…

After putting down their bags they went outside. The house had a rather big yard. It had a garden to the left with vegetables, mainly tomato and carrots, and some apple trees. To the left were the animals. Chickens were picking up seeds and pebbles, cows mooed in the barn and Sasuke could hear a few horses. In the distance at the end of the yard he could see a wider gate and field stretching out to the distant line of trees.

“There are only a few things needed to be done around the garden. Pulling out weeds, feeding the animals. The main task is out there.” The man pointed at the field past the gate with his healthy hand. “It’s time to sow the sunflowers. But with my arm injured, Chihiro can’t do it all alone. And it’s needed to be sown in the next days so we can harvest it in time. We can only sow it every five years, so we need to have great crops this year.”

“Why?” Naruto asked. “Why can’t you do it each year?”

“Sunflower is a sensitive plant” the man answered. “It can’t be sown into the same soil for years. So we use crop rotation. Last year we had oat, next year we’ll have potato.”

As they followed the man around the yard, looking at everything they would need, Sasuke’s eyes wandered around the garden.

His mother used to have a vegetable garden, right under the kitchen window. There’d been several herbs Mikoto used for cooking or making tea when Sasuke had been ill, but what he liked the most was the tomato. As a small child, before he’d started the Academy, he’d sat in the garden with his mother, tending the plants, harvesting the ripe tomatoes. His mother had brushed his cheeks every time he found a nice one and had laughed at how dirty they both had gotten.

His father had never liked when he’d helped his mother instead of training. He’d said he would never be on the same level as Itachi if he’d only pay attention to stupid plants. He still remembered how those words had hurt him. He’d never wanted more than recognition from his father, but also spending time with his mother…

Mikoto had been gentle. Kind. She’d always had a good word to both of her sons, and Sasuke loved her for that and for many other things. She’d been a ninja before she’d married his father, but she’d never shown them any of her skills. He’d been too little to think about it, but sometimes he wondered why she’d stopped being a ninja. What had made her change her mind? Had she even wanted Sasuke and Itachi to be a ninja too? What would’ve happened if none of them went to the Academy? Would it have changed anything?

“Gather around, children!” Kakashi clapped his hands once. Sasuke didn’t see the need for that, since they already stood next to him.

“Take these” he shoved hoes into their hands, “and work on the field.”

“And?” Shikamaru asked, one brow raised, looking from Kakashi to the hoe then back.

Kakashi smiled, putting his hands on his hips.

“That’s it.”

Naruto and Shikamaru let out a groan as they followed the girl to the back of the yard. Sasuke would never admit it out loud, but he wanted to do the same too.

This mission would be long.

*****

“What are you doing?!”

Chihiro yanked the hoe out of Naruto’s hands and started shaking it. She wasn’t far from hitting Naruto in the head.

“I was just—” he started but Chihiro silenced him with a look.

“You can’t just! Didn’t you hear my father? Sunflowers are sensitive plants! You can’t just start and hope it will turn out good! This needs planning!”

Shikamaru let out a sigh. Planning was good. It would stop his two competitive teammates from racing with each other. As they’d been walking out here he could already see the two hoeing up the field like crazy, but that wouldn’t happen fortunately.

He crouched down, looking at the field.

“What do we need to do?” he asked.

Chihiro huffed and shoved the hoe back into Naruto’s hands.

“First we need to check the temperature of the soil. We make a five centimeters deep hole and check it with our fingers. It mustn’t be much colder than the surface.”

Shikamaru took the hoe and carefully made a hole. He checked the temperature, concentrating on the difference.

“It’s about the same” he said and looked up. “You already cultivated the soil.”

Chihiro nodded.

“We just finished it when my father had his accident.”

“What happened?” Naruto asked.

The girl dropped her gaze, pressing her lips together so tightly her mouth started to turn white. She clearly didn’t want to answer.

“Alright, what should we do after that?” Shikamaru stood up, turning back the conversation to their task.

It took a while before Chihiro answered.

“We measure the distance between the rows. They should be about seventy centimeters away from each other.”

“Do you have something to measure with?” Shikamaru asked.

Chihiro nodded and turned back to the gate. Once she was inside, Naruto let out a sound.

“I didn’t want to offend her…” he said with a low voice.

“You couldn’t have known” Shikamaru reassured him. “Let’s concentrate on the mission. This is a teamwork practice like on the first day, but we also have to pay attention to our precision. One simple mistake can cost a lot.”

Naruto nodded and Sasuke huffed, crossing his arms as he looked out at the field.

“Now you’re calm and collected” Sasuke said. “Should’ve changed your attitude last week, because the whole team got into trouble because of you.”

Shikamaru felt coldness running down his spine. His jaw flexed as he stared at Sasuke with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t lecture me about attitude. At least I had a good reason. But you? You who’d never acted respectful around anyone, especially your fangirls?”

Sasuke glared.

“Why do you care how I act?”

Shikamaru shrugged, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

“I don’t really care what you do, but if I remember correctly, you want to resurrect your clan. And you can’t do that without a girl. If you don’t change your attitude, they’ll soon stop fangirling around you and realize what an asshole you can be. But that’s your problem, not mine.”

Sasuke frowned at him.

“Like you’re acting any better around them.”

Maybe he’d never treated girls like it was expected from a boy. And by that he meant he didn’t care about them. Boys were people, girls were people, and annoyance didn’t depend on the gender. Boys and girls could equally be annoying, it was just a question of how.

“Women are troublesome.” He shrugged again. “But at least I’m not a jerk like you.”

“Guys, enough!” Naruto stepped between them. “Why can’t we just finish with this mission without arguing? We’ll be here for a few days and I don’t want to hear you two snapping at each other all the time. It’s finally quite here.”

That last sentence hit Shikamaru hard. For him getting away from the village was not a big deal, but for Naruto? How refreshing could it be for him to be in a place where nobody knew him? Where nobody looked at him with hate, where nobody whispered behind his back? This was the first time Naruto didn’t have to worry about any of that, and now here he was, ruining everything because he couldn’t stand Sasuke.

Shikamaru let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry” he said. “Let’s take care of this field.”

Chihiro brought measuring rods and strings with her and they started working on the field.

It was time consuming. They had to be precise and measure everything perfectly. They couldn’t rush it because Chihiro pointed out the many factors that could affect the plants. Shikamaru felt like the Hokage had chosen this mission for them because of this. The most troublesome plant for the most troublesome team of genin. Wonderful.

It took about twenty minutes to measure the rows, no big deal, but then they had to do it on the other side too, then they had to connect those with strings, so everything would be straight.

“Pull it!” Shikamaru yelled at Naruto on the other end of the row.

“I’m pulling!” he yelled back.

Shikamaru rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, but he was sure he still got some mud on his head. That wouldn’t work.

“The rows are too long, the string won’t be taut enough” Sasuke noted, coming back with sticks in his hands. “And there’s also that steep in the middle.”

So in the end they had to measure the rows seven more times for the strings to perfectly stretch out above the ground. Of course they had to make some adjustments, but it turned out good in the end. It just took half a day to finally finish with it.

“The plants have to be thirty centimeters away from each other” said Chihiro as she gave each of them a measuring rod and sticks, then she left.

They crouched on the ground for the rest of the day. The sun was shining bright on the cloudless sky, and it didn’t take long for them to take off their shirts. They for sure would have a nasty sunburn, but that was much better than combusting under their cloths.

They were all tired. And the best indicator was that Naruto wasn’t talking. Even Sasuke was too tired to hide how exhausted he was. And Shikamaru was too tired to complain about it.

They would surely have sore muscles by the end of it.

“That was it for today, children!” Kakashi said about three hours before sunset. He waited until all three of them gathered around him, then gave them a bento each. “Eat up, have a rest, then we start training in an hour.”

Naruto let out a soft whine that sounded like ‘what’.

“No complaining” Kakashi told him. “Just because we’re on an exhausting mission, doesn’t mean you can stop your training. This was only a warm up.”

Shikamaru turned to find the closest shade and laid down on his stomach.

This mission would be the end of him.

*****

Who would’ve thought that tree climbing could be that hard…

When Chouji had told him that they’d been doing that on their first day, Naruto had honestly thought that he’d been kidding. Tree climbing? As training? That should be a joke.

But no. After their rest the still tired team went to the woods to find three good enough trees near each other.

“You have to climb up without your hands.” Kakashi made a seal then started walking up the tree. “Gathering chakra into your feet is the most difficult task. But by training your body to concentrate chakra to that point, your chakra control would become better with it.”

Kakashi stopped on a branch upside down, looking at them with a smiling eye.

“And good chakra control is the basis of every technique.”

Naruto crossed his arms.

“But I can summon a lot of Shadow Clones already.”

“That’s because you can’t control how many you want to summon” Kakashi said. “Did you ever try to summon only one?”

Naruto frowned and tried it out. About ten of his clones appeared all around them.

“Uhm…” Naruto looked around, confused.

“You only guess how much chakra you’ll need” Kakashi explained as he walked down the tree. “You don’t really think about it, just go with the flow. I have ten clones? I’ll work with that. Fifty clones? No big deal. But it’s a big deal when you have to be precise with the amount of chakra you’ll have to use with certain techniques.”

Kakashi arrived back on the ground and gave each of them a kunai.

“I want you to mark your progress. You’ll practice it every afternoon after you’re done on the field.”

Naruto took the kunai and looked up at the tree. They’d used chakra in their feet back at the Academy to jump up high. This wouldn’t be that difficult.

“Alright!” he shouted, excited. “Let’s do this!”

He made the same seal with his hands as Kakashi and started marching towards the tree but as soon as both of his feet were on the tree he fell down. Naruto groaned in pain as he turned on his side.

“I appreciate your confidence” Kakashi said. “But sheer confidence won’t help you now. You used too little chakra. Try to use more.”

Naruto sat up and rubbed the back of his aching head. It didn’t feel good to fail like this on his first try, but at least Sasuke couldn’t do it either. After a few steps the tree almost exploded under his feet and he had to jump down.

“Sasuke, you’re using too much chakra” Kakashi told him. “Try to use less.”

Shikamaru on the other hand was doing great. He was almost halfway up the tree now and—

And he suddenly started falling down.

Before Naruto could even let out a sound, Kakashi was there to catch Shikamaru. They both looked confused.

“What happened?” Kakashi asked, crouching next to the sitting boy.

“I…” Shikamaru started, but he paused for a long while to think about it. “I don’t know? I used the same method I use for my Shadow Possession Jutsu, and it worked perfectly but then… It felt like I ran out of chakra?”

Kakashi rubbed his chin.

“How long can you maintain your jutsu?”

Shikamaru frowned.

“A minute and twelve seconds.”

Kakashi hummed then stood up, pulling up Shikamaru too.

“We’ll ask a Hyuuga to check on your chakra circulation once we get back to Konoha. Until that you’ll try to pick up leaves with your feet and hold it as long as you can.”

Naruto saw Shikamaru’s shoulders dropping. He put his hands deep into his pockets and started kicking some leaves to the tree he’d tried to climb on. He bumped his back against the tree and started lifting the leaves with one foot.

Naruto just sat there and stared at Shikamaru. It was… sad to see him like this. He didn’t show it, but he knew Shikamaru was feeling bad at that moment. He usually closed off when he didn’t feel good, and he definitely didn’t feel good at that moment.

Naruto looked up the tree, then back at Shikamaru. He jumped up and hopped to Kakashi.

“Sensei, I don’t think this will work.”

Kakashi frowned at him.

“What won’t work?”

“Me climbing the tree” Naruto said. “You said I use too little chakra, so wouldn’t it be better if I practice a little on the ground with leaves too?”

From the corner of his eye he saw Shikamaru staring at him with wide eyes, and even Sasuke stopped practicing.

Kakashi watched him for a long while before he smiled.

“If you think it’s the best way to practice chakra control, I won’t stop you. You need to feel what’s best for your learning.”

Naruto grinned and moved his feet above the leaves. He only managed to lift one a little bit before it fell down, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t want Shikamaru to stand there all alone while Naruto and Sasuke got higher and higher on the tree. That wouldn’t be fair.

When Shikamaru continued to stare at him, Naruto grinned up at him.

“It’s harder than I thought” he said. “I’ll need a lot of practice.”

Shikamaru blinked, then shook his head as a smile formed on his face.

“You’re unbelievable…”

Naruto looked down at the leaves with a smile, then after a while an other leg appeared above them and the leaves suddenly flew in every direction.

“Damn it” Sasuke muttered under his breath. “How much chakra is too much chakra?”

“Start with a little and build up from that” Shikamaru explained with a low voice, hanging his head lower. Naruto couldn’t see his face anymore. “Just relax and don’t get too anxious about it.”

They continued lifting leaves with their feet until the sun was down. Once back at the house they helped Chihiro feed the animals – the cows were cute and friendly, and one even licked his face! – and after some dinner and a hot shower the three of them fell into bed, already sleeping when their heads touched the pillow.

*****

Team 7 was done with the first day of their mission. A messy report came in the next morning written by Kakashi, and Shikaku wondered if he’d done it on purpose. As a former ANBU, Kakashi had to be precise even with his paperwork, so Shikaku decided it must’ve been the case.

“How did they do?” the Hokage asked, knowing exactly what document Shikaku held.

“They’re doing well” he reported. “There’s some tension between the genin, but…” He frowned at the next part. “Shikamaru had some difficulty with his chakra, and the others showed great solidarity towards him. Kakashi also requests the help of a Hyuuga to check Shikamaru’s chakra circulation.”

Which was odd. Shikamaru could use their clan’s shadow technique without any problem. What difficulty did Kakashi mean?

“You may ask Kou to help you with that” the Hokage suggested. Shikaku nodded, then continued to stare at the report. He would think about it back at home. Maybe Yoshino could give him some advice.

While he was in the Hokage’s office, there was something else he had to think about.

Shikamaru. Naruto. Sasuke. They were so different, and the Hokage still decided to put the three of them into a team. What kind of purpose did he have with this? He wouldn’t break a generations old tradition for no reason.

“I can hear you thinking, Shikaku” the Hokage said. He put down his brush and looked at him. “You have questions.”

“Theories, actually” Shikaku admitted. “Some would think you arranged the teams without any logic, but I have a feeling that wasn’t the case. You put the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki and the last Uchiha of Konoha in the same team as the Nara heir, who is also the son of the Jounin Commander of Konoha. And their teacher is the Fourth Hokage’s student and the only other person in Konoha to have a Sharingan.” Shikaku put down the report on the Hokage’s desk before he continued. “Considering all of this, it’s like you want the extra protection of the Nara clan. Maybe from someone who would be delighted to get their hands on two, if not all three of these genin.”

The Hokage was watching him above his folded fingers. The morning sun cast a deep shadow around his eyes, making his stare more piercing.

“I shouldn’t be surprised” he said. “I appointed you to be the Jounin Commander, after all.”

Shikaku swallowed. He sometimes hated to be right.

“Is that it?” he asked, planting his palms on the desk. “Danzo wants to get them so you came up with this solution?”

The Hokage let out a sigh.

“I admit I wasn’t initially planning to do this. There would’ve been an Ino-Shika-Chou team under Asuma’s leadership, and Naruto and Sasuke would’ve been in Kakashi’s team with a girl named Sakura. I wanted to recreate teams from the past, to be echoes of the previous generations. But their Academy teacher was brave enough to voice his doubts.”

Shikaku frowned.

“Iruka?”

The Hokage nodded.

“He told me he wouldn’t want Naruto to be in a team where he didn’t have friends. So he suggested Shikamaru to be his teammate.”

The Hokage stood up and turned to look out the window. Today was the first school day at the Academy. Shikaku could already hear the first children arriving. They were probably forming little groups, laughing together at a joke one of them made. It was sad to think about how innocent they still were, not knowing what kind of life would await them once they become a genin.

“I don’t know enough about the children. Once or twice a year their class visits me and I talk to them about the village, the deeds of the previous Hokage, and the Will of Fire, but I quickly forget their names and faces. Their teachers on the other hand spend almost every day with them for years. They know them the best after their family, sometimes even better.”

The Hokage chuckled.

“People tend to scold me for having a soft heart. They say I need to be firm as a military leader. But we’re talking about children. These children haven’t met with the horrors of the ninja lifestyle yet. Why make their still innocent days a misery with a bad choice of team assignments, when they can spend time with their friends and train with them to be better?”

The Third turned around to look at Shikaku.

“Iruka’s reasoning made me think, and with thinking came the other benefits of this team, the ones you just listed. I reorganized the other teams too and with that came other benefits.”

“Asuma as Hyuuga Hinata’s sensei” Shikaku said.

“Asuma didn’t like it when he realized why I did that.” The Hokage let out a sigh and put his hands on the back of his chair. “But under his care the Hyuuga elders won’t be able to do anything to Hinata. Or if they do, they’ll risk angering the whole Council.”

The Hokage sat down again after a while and leaned back in his chair. Shikaku straightened his back, arms crossed.

“So you see, there’s reason behind everything” the Hokage continued. “Even in the seemingly random team of Kurenai. But I mainly want Naruto and Sasuke to be safe. I promised Itachi to look after Sasuke, and you were there when I promised Kushina the same with her own son.”

Shikaku closed his eyes. He still remembered the moment vividly. He’d been holding Kushina in her last moments, her blood from the hole in her abdomen painting his arms and vest red.

“Protect… Naruto… Protect…” she’d gasped. Her eyes had been glassy, the light that had once shined bright in them gone forever. She’d been reaching out blindly, searching. The Hokage had moved closer and Shikaku had guided her hands to her son’s cheeks with his own shaking one.

“I promise, Kushina” the Third had said. “I will protect your son.”

Kushina had died with a smile on her face.

Shikaku swallowed down the lump in his throat and looked back at the Hokage.

“But the echo remains.”

A sad smile appeared on the Third’s face.

“The echo remains.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half-title drop, ba-dumm tsss.
> 
> I know Shikamaru seems to be a little OOC. But there is this thing in fics (in ShikaNaru fics at least) called the “Nara fixation”, when a Nara gets so fixated on someone that they can even act really out of character. This fixation can be harmless, like being a great motivator to do better, or a bit dark, like dark and edgy. This Shikamaru is aggressively protective. You may say that this is the early sign of something (¬‿¬ )
> 
> Also, after the new team assignments, here’s the next main change: Shikamaru’s chakra acting weird. More about it later. The only thing I can say is that this one will follow us into the distant future.
> 
> Also during my research I found out that sunflowers are so troublesome it's insane! What the actual hell, sunflowers!?


	9. Mission to the Land of Waves – part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter so far! Yeey! :D We’re also out of the “prologue period” and we’re entering the “things are starting to get pretttty serious” part.
> 
> Also, please, excuse me if I’m sometimes taking more time to reply to your comments. I get a little overwhelmed by all the responses :’D I’ll try my best to answer to everyone in the two weeks between chapters.

In the end they spent three more days on the farm. They perfected their sunflower sowing technique by the end of it, and Naruto and Sasuke finally learnt how to pick up the leaves from the ground.

Shikamaru still couldn’t think about that one without his heart clenching in his chest. He was sure Naruto and Sasuke would be running on trees by now, but no. They never looked at a tree on the past few days. They stayed on the ground and turned all their attention to the leaves. Was it because he'd refused to eat on their survival mission? Or was it all Naruto? Still, he felt… touched.

“Thank you for your help” Takuya said on the morning of the forth day and handed them their mission scroll. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”

“It was nothing, Takuya-san” Kakashi said. “We would gladly come if you need any more help. Right, children?”

Naruto nodded with enthusiasm.

“I want to see the sunflowers when they grow!”

Takuya chuckled at that.

“I don’t know how much time it would take for my arm to heal, so I’ll keep your offer in mind.”

They said goodbyes to the man and made their way back to the village. Shikamaru could see Chihiro watching them from the cover of a tree, but he ignored her. Naruto waved to her, only for the girl to turn her back on them and run away.

They were walking in silence for a while now. They were already in the woods, the little settlement out of sight behind them. Shikamaru glanced back at the direction they had come from, then looked up at Kakashi.

“Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi looked down at him.

“What is it, Shikamaru?”

“Why didn’t Takuya-san ask a medic ninja to help with his arm? If the Hokage is his friend, it shouldn’t be that difficult to arrange.”

His question drew the attention of his teammates. They too looked at Kakashi, waiting for an answer.

Kakashi took his time to reply. He rubbed his chin, looked at the foliage above them, at everything instead of answering.

“It’s a very complex reason” he said in the end.

“We have time” Shikamaru replied. “We’re still more than half an hour away from Konoha.”

Kakashi chuckled at that and put his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” He paused. “How much do you know about infiltrations?”

Shikamaru frowned.

“You mean when a spy infiltrates into an enemy force, or when a group of ninjas get inside an enemy base?”

“The latter. There were several attempts in the past years, most of them to kidnap highly important targets, mainly for their unique bloodlines, or turning their target to their own side.”

“They can do that?” Naruto asked. “I mean turning someone against their own home?”

“They can. There are techniques that can change one’s mind in any way possible. Friends can turn into enemies, children into the murderers of their own family. With the right jutsu, or even just the right words, love can turn into hate in a blink of an eye. There are people who would do anything to defeat their enemy.”

Sasuke turned away while Naruto continued to stare at Kakashi.

“Most of these missions were fortunately unsuccessful. Konoha wouldn’t be standing if they were. Still, stopping the destruction of the village doesn’t mean there weren’t people killed, be it ninjas or civilians in the crossfire.”

“Was one of those people Chihiro’s mother?” Shikamaru asked. He'd figured the mother's absence was due to her death. The house lacked the atmosphere a mother created around her, the one he always felt at home.

Kakashi nodded.

“That’s why she was so suspicious all along” Shikamaru concluded. “She didn’t trust us after what had happened to her mother. But Takuya-san should’ve been the same, right? Instead he asked the Hokage for help.”

Kakashi glanced at Shikamaru then looked ahead again.

“There are situations when you need to put away the painful memories because you can’t do something without any help. And if you need to ask the person who may or may not be responsible for a loved one’s death? I think it needs a certain level of emotional intelligence to do that.”

Shikamaru dropped his gaze on the ground. Now that he was thinking about it, they hadn’t seen the man that much. Takuya had only met them in the mornings while they had breakfast then he hadn’t been seen until the next day. Maybe that was the most amount of time he could act around them like that. Maybe he hated that they’d been in his home and would never want to see them again.

“And time heals the wounds” Kakashi continued, making Shikamaru look back at him. “It depends on the person, but the necessary amount of time can have that effect. The further you get from it, the more objective you can look at it without your emotions blinding your judgment. Maybe that was the case with Takuya-san. We’ll see if he asks for our help next time too.”

"There's one thing I want you all to understand" Kakashi added much later, looking at all three of them. "No matter what happens in the future, if someone hurts you or the people dear to you, never blame a whole nation for the deeds of the few. There's nothing more cruel than punishing innocents for someone else's crimes they had no part in. Never become the person who hurt you, because in return you will only hurt others, and it continues on until the end of the world."

Shikamaru nodded then looked ahead. There was less foliage above them as they got closer to Konoha. In the distance he could already see the Hokage Monument and the top of the wall surrounding the village.

Emotions were difficult to understand, he decided. One situation can affect people in many different ways, and who knew what that would be before it actually happened.

He recalled the events of the previous week. How the villagers had hurt Naruto with their words, and how he'd hurt them back out of reflex, without a second thought. How he had gotten so used to it that he'd even hurt someone who hadn't wanted any bad for Naruto. What would happen on a greater scale if he'd acted like that verbally? Would he attack someone out of revenge just because they were from the same village as the one who hurt his friends? Would he have that emotional intelligence Kakashi had mentioned, or the rage would take over his mind?

His head started to hurt. It was something he didn't want to think about. Something he was afraid to think about.

The only thing he wanted to think about right now was a long shower and a long sleep. He would leave thinking after he slept.

*****

“What do you think about some ramen?” Kakashi asked after they left the Hokage Tower. They finally finished a mission and Naruto’s first payment was deep in his pocket. He didn't know what to do with it yet. Maybe he'd put it away for later, when he'd really need it. “Then you can have the day off. No new missions, no training. My treat, of course.”

Naruto very much liked the idea. After four days of work on the sun and chakra training in the afternoon, he got really hungry. And Ichiraku Ramen was the best in the whole world, and he wouldn’t say no to a free meal.

“Let’s go then!” Naruto said and grabbed the protesting Shikamaru and the frowning Sasuke by the arm and started pulling them to the ramen stand’s direction.

“Naruto!” Ayame greeted them with a wide smile when they arrived. “How was your mission?”

“We had to sow sunflowers” he told her as they sat down and Ayame wrote down their orders. “And we picked up leaves with chakra in our feet.”

“That must’ve been exciting” Teuchi said as he stepped through the door in the back and went to the fireplace to prepare their ramen. “I’m glad it turned out to be good in the end for you boys.”

Naruto continued on talking with Teuchi and Ayame, swinging his legs. The others were silent – Shikamaru almost falling asleep next to him, – but it didn’t bother Naruto. He was happy to finally have a mission that they finished. And hopefully more would come in the future.

“Ayame-chaaaan!”

Next to Naruto, Shikamaru almost fell off his stool. The voice came from the outside. And once she heard it, Ayame made a face behind the counter and returned to her job like she didn’t hear anything.

A woman walked through the drapes. She had a wicked grin on her face as she sat down next to Naruto. Also, Naruto noticed, she had a forehead protector.

“How are you today?” the woman asked.

“Fine. And you?” Ayame didn’t bother to look up. She gave out the bowls of ramen to Naruto’s team then returned back to her work. But that didn’t seem to bother the woman at all. Instead, it only made her happier.

“I’m absolutely good, thank you for asking. And you, Teuchi-san? How’s it going?”

Teuchi did the same as his daughter, he continued working like there wasn’t a loud customer in the ramen stand.

“I’m fine, Anko, thank you.”

“Anko, I didn’t notice you” Kakashi said, looking up from his bowl. Which was empty. And his mask was on. How the—

The woman turned to Kakashi.

“Hey Kakashi! I didn’t notice you either.” Anko looked at the three of them one by one. “This must be your team, right? Still just twerps and they already have a reputation.”

“I’m not a twerp” Naruto argued.

Anko pushed his head down with one hand and ruffled his hair. Naruto yelped in pain while the woman continued to smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry, brat. Did I hurt your feelings?”

“Anko, stop harassing my student” Kakashi told her, but his voice was as calm as ever.

Anko patted Naruto’s head one last time before pulling back her hand. Naruto touched his aching head, glaring at the woman. Why was everyone doing this when they met him?

“Look at you, Kakashi!” Anko leaned on her elbow, chin in her palm, looking at Kakashi with a grin. “A jounin sensei. Who would’ve thought!” Anko leaned down, like she wanted to whisper into Naruto’s ear. “This guy was a brat when he was your age. A real prick with a stick up his ass.”

“Anko!” Ayame scolded the woman, finally looking at her. She had a frown on her face and both of her hands were on her hips. “Do you want anything?”

Anko turned back to Ayame, winking at her.

“That was all I needed.” She hopped off her stool and waved at them. “See you later, brats!”

Naruto stared at the woman as she walked through the drapes then turned back to the others.

“That woman is crazy.”

Ayame let out a long breath.

“Tell me about it.”

Ayame started furiously scrubbing a few pans. Teuchi glanced at her and let out a low chuckle. The woman’s cheeks turned deep red.

“Dad!” she yelled at him, foam from the sink splashing everywhere on the counter as she turned.

Naruto watched them with a frown. Next to him Shikamaru and Sasuke made the same confused face. Naruto was about to turn back to his ramen, but he quickly looked back their way.

On the other end, Kakashi was staring at his empty bowl.

Naruto had never seen him this sad before.

*****

“Okay, son” Shikaku said. “Try to walk up the tree.”

Shikamaru let out a sigh. He made a hand seal and started walking up. He was about halfway up when his feet let go of the trunk and he started falling down. Shikaku easily caught him.

“Well, Kou?” Shikaku looked back after he made sure Shikamaru could stand on his feet without any support. “Did you see anything?”

Kou continued to stare at Shikamaru with a frown, then quickly deactivated his Byakugan when he realized he should answer the question.

“His chakra is circulating perfectly” he said. “But…”

Shikaku frowned. It wasn’t like Kou to struggle with his words.

“But?”

“It was like the tree absorbed his chakra" he continued. "Shikamaru can collect the perfect amount of chakra into his feet to walk up the tree, but as the tree takes away that chakra, and he tries to fill up the gap, he quickly runs out of chakra and falls down. I don’t know why nobody noticed it at the Academy.”

Shikaku pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh.

“I know exactly why. Thank you, Kou.”

“Anytime, sensei.”

Shikaku waited until Kou was out of sight before he turned to Shikamaru. He had his hands in his pockets, looking away.

“You slacked it off” he stated.

“I didn’t” Shikamaru said, shrugging. “I just didn’t put much effort into it.”

Shikaku pulled a hand down his face, sending out a prayer to the heavens.

“Shikamaru, this is not a game. Our clan jutsu may only be about controlling the shadows, but shadows are dangerous things to play with. They can absorb you if you’re not careful enough. This should've been dealt with a long time ago. What if too much chakra is pulled out of you? What if this happens on a dangerous mission and you die? How many times do I have to tell you about—”

“I know” Shikamaru cut in.

“It doesn’t seem like it” Shikaku shook his head. “We start training right now.”

“What?!” Shikamaru snapped, wide eyes staring at him. “I just came home!”

“I don’t care Shikamaru” Shikaku snapped back. He was quickly running out of patience. “If you don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to a shadow swallowing you, you stay here and learn how to hold back your chakra.”

Shikamaru huffed and sat down with crossed legs.

Shikaku sat down in front of him.

When did Shikamaru become this difficult? Was it the teenage hormones showing their effect? Was he always like this but he never noticed?

No. It was definitely his team. Naruto’s enthusiasm would have a good effect on him, he remembered saying. He just never expected this. Getting into trouble with the whole village, becoming more vocal and stubborn… Shikamaru was never a quite boy, but this was some next level of troublesome Shikaku never thought he would experience.

So it was definitely his team.

Or he just inherited too much from Yoshino. Yeah. That was an even better explanation. Then the combination of these two – Shikamaru inheriting too much from Yoshino, and Naruto’s influence – resulted… this. A stubborn rebellious son.

In a better world, where Minato and Kushina never died, Kushina and Yoshino would have so much fun with this. They would sit on the edge of the veranda, laughing at him and his struggles with his son so much that their eyes would tear up.

“This is the Uzumaki-effect, y’know!” Kushina would say, her accent coming out every time she forgot about herself.

And Minato would nervously laugh next to her, but he would also look at his wife like she'd stolen the stars from the sky and shoved them into his pockets because Kushina was like that.

Shikaku let a small sad smile to show itself on his face while Shikamaru concentrated on all of his chakra pathways, pulling his chakra back through the cracks.

“You’re doing great, son” he said after a long period of silence.

He got scared even thinking about what would’ve happened to Shikamaru if this wasn’t found out. Chakra leakage was a serious problem for any ninja, but especially for the Nara. If the shadows took too much, if they grew to like the taste of it, they wouldn’t wait for it to slowly flow out, they would come for it and absorb it from the source itself. There were many stories about several Nara from the past, long before Konoha was even a dream, who hadn’t been careful enough and let themselves get eaten by the darkness.

Maybe he should ask a Hyuuga to close the leakages off. Someone with a perfect control of their Gentle Fist.

Shikaku let out a sigh as he came to the conclusion that only Hyuuga Hiashi could do that. He didn’t want to ask Hiashi for help, especially now with all that crap with his daughters, but this was not about him. This was about Shikamaru and he needed to act fast if he wanted him to outlive his old man.

*****

They got a C-Rank mission the next day too. They didn’t have to pack for days now, it was only a delivery mission to a village three hours away from Konoha, but they were finally going on missions and Naruto wouldn’t complain about that.

“So the tree sucked your chakra out of your feet?” he asked when they were about half an hour away from Konoha, and Shikamaru just finished explaining what was going on with his chakra.

Shikamaru slowly turned to him.

“There are many things I never want to hear in my life, and this just took the first place.”

Naruto frowned.

“What?”

Shikamaru shook his head, muttering something under his nose.

“Chakra leakage is a rare condition” Kakashi explained. “But once it’s detected at the Academy, it can be easily solved.” Then he added. “But once your chakra passages reach a certain maturity—”

“Yeah, I got scolded already back at home” Shikamaru cut in, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets. “Dad said he would ask Hyuuga Hiashi to help me with this.”

“Condolences” Sasuke said.

“Yeah.” Shikamaru’s shoulders dropped. “I’m not looking forward to it at all.”

Naruto turned to them, confused. There weren’t many things Shikamaru and Sasuke had the same opinion about.

“Who’s this Hyuuga Hiashi?” he asked.

“Hinata’s father and the head of the Hyuuga clan” Shikamaru answered. “And a major jerk.”

“Shikamaru” Kakashi warned him.

“But it’s true. I’ve met him only twice when I was little, but that was enough for me to know he’s a bastard.”

“He’s cold and makes you shudder when he looks at you” Sasuke agreed.

“No wonder Hinata is so shy” Shikamaru continued. “If my father was like that I would be too. And almost the whole clan’s like him. A bunch of jerks.”

“Boys” Kakashi warned them again, but it was clearly heard in his voice that he was giving up on stopping them.

Naruto wondered what this Hiashi was like. He’d never met any clan heads. Since they took care of a whole clan, they had to be strict, right? But Shikamaru always said that his father was lazy, and he was a clan head. Was he an odd one then? Or was this Hiashi the odd one? He didn’t know if he wanted to meet him. Was Hinata so quite all the time because of him? Because she couldn’t speak up at home? That had to be horrible…

Once they arrived to Fushu they had to deliver the message. Kakashi only gave them a few clues about the direction they had to go, but fortunately Shikamaru and Sasuke were clever enough to figure out where to go.

“Where the sun turns upside down” Kakashi said as they got to the next corner.

They looked around, looking for the right direction.

“There, the sun” Shikamaru pointed at a decoration. A smiling sun that somebody put on the window upside down. Naruto didn’t know if it was only a mistake or not. He’d never been to this village, he didn’t even know it existed, he had no idea how people lived here or anywhere outside Konoha.

“Alright” Kakashi said once they stopped under the upside down sun decoration. “This one’s for Naruto.”

Naruto bit the inside of his mouth. He didn’t want any clues. He was bad at solving them.

“Really, sensei?”

Kakashi patted his shoulder with a smile under his mask.

“Really. Let’s see… Where the rainbow swirls.”

Naruto felt like he would freak out in no time. He looked at every direction. Only water could swirl, no? But how would the rainbow get into the water? This didn’t make sense…

No, this was stupid. He couldn’t do it.

“Don’t think about it too much.” Kakashi put his hands on his shoulders as he stood behind him. “Don’t try to solve it too hard. Think a little outside of the box. Don’t take the direction literally. Try to imagine what I saw that reminded me of a swirling rainbow.”

Naruto let out a long breath while still looking around. A swirling rainbow… A swirling rainbow…

His eyes suddenly fixed on something spinning about three buildings away from them.

“Oh!” he pointed at that direction. “A pinwheel!”

“Good job, Naruto.” Kakashi squeezed his shoulders before letting go.

Shikamaru nudged his side with his elbow, smiling at him. Naruto smiled back as they walked to the rainbow colored pinwheel in a flower pot. They continued on like this until they got to the address, and by the end Naruto got better at solving Kakashi's clues.

“I like these missions” Naruto said when they were on their way back to Konoha. “Leaving the village is fun.”

They were now walking by a poppy field. In the distance there was a building that Shikamaru called a windmill. It was like a giant pinwheel, Naruto decided, and sheep were grazing lazily around it.

“At least we can now finish missions” Sasuke said, glancing at Shikamaru who only shrugged at that. He didn't get angry anymore when Sasuke mentioned their failed D-Rank missions, and Naruto was happy about it. He didn't like Shikamaru blaming himself, because it was all Naruto's fault.

“I’ll ask the Hokage if we can have more missions like this” Kakashi told him. “We can go anywhere in the country.”

Naruto hopped a few times in excitement.

“That would be great! The world is so much bigger outside Konoha!”

For example Naruto had seen a pond so big he could barely see the other side of it. And the poppy field was beautiful too. He wanted to see many more things in the future, because now he knew there were many more things outside the village gates than inside.

He hoped that he would see something new soon.

*****

The days quickly became weeks. It was the end of May already and it was wonderful and terrifying at the same time how fast time flew when people felt good.

It’d been a long time since he felt good. He sometimes wondered if he ever had.

Maybe when he’d been a toddler and his mother had been still alive. After her death everything had gone downhill so fast… First his father died, then Obito, Rin, and Minato and Kushina quickly followed each other to the grave. And with them gone time had slowed down to an unbearable pace.

Sometimes he’d felt like the seconds were stretched out so long he was going insane. Like the whole world was waiting for the moment when he had enough with it and decided to end it all. Was it depressing to think that the only thing still keeping him here was that with him gone nobody would talk to the graves of his friends?

He knew he was the only one visiting them. With Obito’s grandmother long gone before the Uchiha massacre and no Uchiha really caring about him, with Rin's parents moving away from Konoha so they didn’t have to remember, only Kakashi was here to remember them. And he didn’t want his friends’ memory to sink into oblivion.

So the only thing that had kept Kakashi in the world of the living had been the dead.

How depressing.

But the days started to pass faster now. He started to feel better for the first time in his life. Still not great, but much better than before. His genin were like a safety net, not letting him sink too deep, always keeping him on the edge, never giving him an opportunity to let his darkest thoughts back into the forefront of his mind.

And he was glad.

So glad.

For the first time there was a reason he had to wake up in the morning, a reason he had to look forward to that day, and the next, and the one that followed. They became his guiding lights in the dark, and he couldn’t ask for anything better.

More than a month ago he hadn’t been this enthusiastic about this new team. It was the third year the Hokage had given him genin, and he’d been so looking forward to sending them back to the Academy, but…

It was a special team.

In a way not many would even guess.

*****

_Minato’s son who also had the Kyuubi sealed inside him._

_And the last living Uchiha of Konoha._

_Both a reminder of his past, his mistakes, his failures, his weaknesses. His sensei and Kushina. Obito and Rin. Itachi. If he hadn’t known the Hokage had good intentions, he would’ve thought it was a punishment._

_They visited Naruto’s then Sasuke’s apartment, both the complete opposite of the other._

_Naruto’s home was a mess. The windows were shut, not letting inside the smallest rays of the sun, the lamp on the ceiling was blinking once they turned it on. The fridge was almost empty and the only things in the cupboard were a single bowl, a single glass, and many instant ramen. It was horrible to see that the Fourth Hokage’s son had to live like this…_

_Sasuke’s home on the other hand was clean, well equipped, everything in order. Maybe in too much order. Like somebody wanted to compensate the mess in their head like this. Kakashi just knew. He was an expert._

_And now they arrived to the Nara Compound._

_Kakashi and the Hokage sat down at one side of the table, while Shikaku and Yoshino sat on the other. They all had a steaming mug of tea in front of them with a plate of pastries in the middle._

_“It’s good to see you, Kakashi-kun” Yoshino said with a smile. “It’s been a long time.”_

_Kakashi nodded._

_“Sorry for not visiting. I was… rather busy.”_

_Yoshino hummed, but by the way she looked at him Kakashi knew she saw right through him. But she didn’t mention anything, and for that Kakashi was thankful. He didn’t need one more reminder how fucked up he was._

_“So” Shikaku broke the silence, taking a sip from his drink. “You’re assigned as their jounin, Kakashi. I heard you sent back your teams to the Academy in the last two years.”_

_His words only could’ve been an accusation, but his tone and eyes told an other story. Shikaku was genuinely curious._

_“I have some requirements” he answered. “If they don’t meet them, I can’t have them as a team. It’s better for both parties that way.”_

_Shikaku watched him for a long while, a smirk hiding in the corner of his lips._

_“Fair point. Becoming a ninja isn’t a game. These kids need to learn that early.”_

_“They spent their childhood in peace” Yoshino said. “They didn’t have to fear when the enemy would attack next. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have to be serious.”_

_Kakashi allowed himself to smile a little under his mask. He expected nothing less from the two Nara. They were wise, not letting their emotions to influence them all the time._

_“So you’re not against this team, despite the opportunity for having an Ino-Shika-Chou team” the Hokage said before he drank from his mug._

_“Not at all. I know the other two kids since they were little. If Shikamaru is in the same team as Chouji and Ino, he would become less motivated to do anything.”_

_“I have no idea where he inherited that from.” Yoshino raised a brow as she glanced at her husband, who almost choked on his tea._

_“No idea” he muttered after coughing a few times._

_“Besides” Shikaku continued after a while, “this will be good for him. Maybe Naruto’s enthusiasm will have a good effect on my son. He inherited my habits, but maybe he can still change for the better.”_

_Kakashi watched him as Shikaku spoke. There was a tension in his arms Kakashi rarely saw from him, but knew exactly what caused it. Shikaku was among the very few people who were aware of what exactly had happened twelve years ago and what consequences it came with. And he was one of the even fewer people who didn’t blame an innocent child for something he hadn’t done, even though what tragedies that had brought to this very family and many others._

_“Also, Shikamaru seems to be friends with Naruto” Yoshino added then she chuckled. “He claims him to be annoying, but they’ve been hanging out a lot since they started to go to the Academy. After what Naruto went through, it’s good to see there are still some who want to be friends with him.” A sad smile appeared on her face, but her features were tight as she looked at the Hokage, like she had to force herself. “Thank you for the consideration.”_

_The Hokage nodded as he reached for his mug, avoiding Yoshino’s eyes._

_“That was the least I could do.”_

_Shikaku glanced between the two, and Kakashi did the same. He just noticed that it was the first time that Yoshino looked at the Hokage since they'd arrived. The emotions in her eyes were hidden just enough so they couldn’t be named, but apparently the Hokage knew exactly what they meant._

_“The Uchiha kid on the other hand” Shikaku started, guiding the conversation back to the new genin team. “Can he fit in? According to Shikamaru he’s a loner. Especially after what happened to his clan.”_

_“I wanted him in this team because Kakashi is the only one who has the Sharingan” the Third answered. “I can’t tell how these three boys will work as a team yet, but I’m hoping for a positive outcome.”_

_They left shortly after that. Looking at the sun Kakashi noted that he was already late from picking up his new team, but he didn’t fasten his steps._

_“They’re very accepting” he noted._

_“I’m not that surprised. The Nara tend to use logic more when they think, than depending on their emotions only. And you remember Shikaku was a trusted shinobi under the Fourth Hokage. He was friends with Naruto’s father.”_

_Kakashi nodded._

_“Also” the Hokage continued, “You know which one was Yoshino’s team.”_

_Kakashi’s gaze dropped to the road._

_Of course he knew._

*****

Kakashi could see the Hokage’s intention. That didn’t mean he understood it, but now he wouldn’t complain. Because here he was now, a little more than a month later, and he was looking forward to spending time with his team.

As Shikaku had said, Shikamaru’s laziness and Naruto’s bounciness could negate each other. Shikamaru was more active than on their first days as a team, and Naruto calmed down. Maybe because he finally got the attention he deep down always needed. The attention Kakashi should’ve given him from the day he'd lost his parents, but what could be expected from a man, who sometimes woke up in the middle of the night to rub the skin off his hands?

He also noticed Naruto acted as a mediator between Shikamaru and Sasuke when an argument went too far, and he seemed to be fair, not favoring any of them, even if Sasuke and he had their own conflicts too. In that case Shikamaru stepped between the two. On the other hand, when Naruto and Shikamaru had any disagreements they talked it out without raising their voices – or without Naruto raising his voice more than usual – and could easily find a common ground they could move forward from. At those times Sasuke kept his distance but he was clearly paying attention to them.

And they worked well together. Surprisingly well. They usually went with Shikamaru’s plan, and Naruto and Sasuke never argued against it, they only made suggestions that Shikamaru always considered. It was so… heartwarming to see. He feared at first that Naruto and Sasuke, especially Sasuke, wouldn’t listen to anything and stubbornly go their own way.

But that didn’t happen. They actually listened to each other when it mattered. They slowly tuned to each other, changing a little bit to fit into their dynamic, to be more compatible with each other. And with them Kakashi changed too.

If only… If only it hadn’t taken this long for him to change. If only it hadn’t required the death of all the people he held dear to his heart to finally open his eyes. If only those people were still alive to see how amazing these children were. Minato and Kushina would’ve been so proud of their son. Rin would’ve spoiled them so much they wouldn’t listen to him anymore. And Obito…

Obito would be his Hokage now. Just and kind. It would be a peaceful world because Obito would’ve already changed it for the better. Because that had been him. A stubborn idealist who would’ve made the world a better place to live in, where nobody had to die for no real reason, just for the sake of a bloodshed. He would tease Kakashi about his soft spot for his team, and he would tell them embarrassing stories from their childhood. But Kakashi would just stand there silently and let him do and say whatever he wanted because…

Because that would be a perfect world.

_Did you have real feelings for him, or just grief twisted your obsession of his memory?_

Kakashi huffed. Yeah, leave it to Tenzou to point out all the flaws in his emotional capacity. He liked to think that it would’ve developed naturally as they grew older, but there was little hope that it would’ve been ever reciprocated. Because in this perfect world where everyone would’ve been alive, Obito would have gotten the girl he always deserved.

“Finally, sensei!” Naruto yelled as soon as he turned the corner to the entrance of the Hokage Tower. He stood there with Sasuke and Shikamaru, waiting for him patiently or not so patiently. “What took you so long? The Old Man said we would get the worst missions if we’re late!”

Kakashi let out a laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

“I had to help an old lady cross the street” he said. His students rolled their eyes at that but didn’t make comments.

Kakashi smiled under his mask.

He hoped his friends were as proud of these three as he was, wherever they were in the afterlife.

*****

The day started good. He hadn’t dreamt the previous night, or didn’t remember anything, which was fine for him either way. He liked those longer missions they were going on. Getting out of the village, getting away from the gazes of pity and suspicion was a blessing. He could finally take a deep breath and just let the stress out. But on the other hand these sometimes days long missions were something he was really afraid of. What if there was a nightmare? What if he woke up in the middle of the night, waking up the others? Then there would be questions and laughs, and he really didn’t want that. He tried not to think about it every time on a mission before he fell asleep.

But this was a good start of the day. No nightmares, no headaches. He had a good breakfast and got his backpack ready. He didn’t know what kind of mission they would get, so nowadays all of them went to the Hokage Tower with everything prepared for a few days long journey.

He was the first one at the Tower as usual. Naruto was usually the next one in five minutes, and Shikamaru arrived ten minutes later. Sasuke usually stayed silent as Naruto and Shikamaru talked to each other, but he kept his ears open. Naruto sometimes asked questions that bewildered Sasuke, but Shikamaru always answered him. How much did Naruto not know? Hadn’t he read any books? Hadn’t he paid attention at the Academy? It was almost ridiculous how many things he had no idea about.

But apart from the stupid questions it was a nice morning. Peaceful and quite and—

“Sasuke-kun!”

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to hold back a groan. What a horrible way to end his good morning.

Ino soon appeared next to him leaning on his side and Sasuke tried to lean away, but the girl grabbed his arm.

“Haven’t seen you in a while” she said, a wide smile on her face. “I was wondering where you were.”

“Ino, leave him alone” Shikamaru said with a tried voice. “The guy’s not interested.”

Sasuke blinked at Shikamaru, but couldn’t react in any other way, because Ino was now hugging him by the neck.

“I’m not talking to you, you lazy ass!” she almost yelled, making his ear ring. She turned back to him, continuing with a lower voice. “Me and my team will go on our first C-Rank mission today. Kurenai-sensei was satisfied with our progress, and promised us a mission outside of Konoha.”

“They’re going on C-Rank missions for a month now” Chouji said as he walked to them. He and Shikamaru bumped their fists together, then gave one to Naruto too when he lifted his hand up.

“What?!” Ino shrieked. She let go of him in her surprise and Sasuke lived with this opportunity to get out of her hands and quickly moved to the other side of his team next to Naruto. “But you first have to reach a certain amount of successful D-Rank missions before you can go on your first C-Rank mission!”

“Watch out, guys!” Kiba said as he arrived with Shino. “Ino there is about to slap the rules and regulations into your face.”

“And I would if I had it with me!” She put her hands on her hips, looking at them like a bunch of reckless kids.

They kind of were, he guessed.

“We have the Hokage’s permission” Shikamaru said. He yawned and stretched. “We didn’t steal any mission scrolls if that’s what you’re thinking about.”

“Who stole the mission scrolls?” Sakura asked, staring at Shikamaru with wide eyes. Hinata was behind her, peeking over her shoulder.

“Nobody stole any mission scrolls” Shikamaru corrected her with a sigh. “How many times do I have to repeat it? This is so tiring…”

“They are going on C-Rank missions for a month now!” Ino pointed at the three of them. “Genin are not allowed to go on missions outside of Konoha until they reach a certain level in their training!”

“Oh.” Sakura glanced at them, but quickly looked away when her eyes met Sasuke's. “Well, the Hokage allowed it, so—”

“Wait a minute!” Ino took a few steps back to see all of them. “Did everyone know about this?!”

Sasuke saw the others exchanging looks, until Kiba shrugged and said:

“Well, yeah. You didn’t?”

Just the appearance of the two other teams’ sensei saved them from a shrieking fest Ino was about to unleash. She was still fuming when they left the building ten minutes later and were on their way to their first C-Rank mission.

“Gosh, I’m so glad I’m not teammates with Ino…” Shikamaru let out a long sigh as soon as the two other genin teams were out of sight.

Kakashi arrived about half an hour later, telling them a sorry excuse as usual. Everything would be a bit better if he finally admitted that he fell asleep. Not that it would make it any better, because a ninja shouldn’t be late, but why tell them such specific excuses? A black cat crossed his path, needed to help some old ladies… Why was it so necessary?

On their way to the staircase leading upstairs they saw a definitely drunk man swaying and yelling as he walked up and down the lobby.

“Where’s my escort?!” he yelled, slamming his bottle on the receptionist’s desk, who watched him with annoyance.

“Sir, please sit down.”

Sasuke watched the man for a while then turned ahead. What kind of people were allowed inside the Tower?

They entered the Mission Assignment Room and they got to Zaji’s desk right away. The desk chuunin somehow became their personal mission assigner. Naruto got along with him well, the two always chatting as Zaji gave out their mission.

“There you go” Zaji said as he handed them the scroll. “The Hokage decided that you three are ready for an escort mission. You’ll be bodyguards on a journey.”

Sasuke raised both of his brows. An escort mission? He and Shikamaru looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, who also looked surprised by the news.

“Is the Hokage sure about that?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto turned to Kakashi, shaking his hand with both of his.

“Kakashi-sensei, come on! Maybe it’s a princess! Or an important diplomat!”

Kakashi stood his ground for a while. He was looking up the ceiling, eye fixed on one point above them while Naruto continued to shake his hand, then let out a sigh.

“Let me see that scroll” he said.

Naruto let him go, but continued to bounce next to their teacher. Sasuke watched Kakashi as he was reading. There wasn’t any indication on his face what he was thinking at that moment, but Sasuke hoped he would accept the mission. An escort mission meant a new challenge. They could learn new skills delivery missions couldn’t teach them. They could learn scouting and such. Skills he might need in the future.

After about a minute Kakashi rolled up the scroll and nodded.

“Alright” he said. “We accept the mission.”

Naruto jumped up.

“Yes!” he yelled. “Who are we guarding?”

Zaji opened his mouth to answer but his eyes were on the door in a second when a man started shouting.

“Where’s my escort?!” the man, the same man from the lobby, walked in. “I have to return to my country as soon as possible!”

Oh…

Oh no…

Sasuke felt his eyes widening as he realized who their client was. Even Kakashi raised his hand slowly to put it on his mouth, like he couldn’t believe it either.

“Seriously?” Shikamaru groaned.

“Zaji!” Naruto turned to the chuunin, begging. “Zaji, don’t do this! Give us an other mission! Any other mission! Even the sewers mission is better than this!”

Zaji ducked his head.

“I’m sorry, guys, but the Hokage said you should get this mission.”

The man walked closer to the mission desks. He looked around, watching the chuunin all around who also stared at him, then his eyes settled on their team. His brows furrowed.

“This is my escort? A bunch of brats?”

Kakashi stepped forward, lifting his hand for a shake.

“I’m Hatake Kakashi, the jounin sensei of the team. You must be Tazuna-san.”

Tazuna eyed Kakashi’s hand then his face with suspicion, and then drank from his bottle instead of shaking hands.

“I’m an important person in my country” he said. “I expect you to escort me back to my home safely.”

Shikamaru tilted his head, watching the man with a frown.

“Do we only have to look after him because he drinks?” Shikamaru asked under his nose. “So he won’t die in a bush on his way home?”

Sasuke slowly shook his head. He had no idea how this man could be anyone important. If he really was, his home country couldn’t be that impressive either.

“I can assure you that this team will protect you on the journey” Kakashi reassured him but Sasuke could tell that he was faking his politeness. “Children we’re going to the Land of Waves” he said, turning to them. “Are your backpacks ready?”

Land of Waves? Sasuke hadn’t heard about that country before. It had to be a smaller one, or even a satellite state between the Land of Fire and an other greater ninja nation.

“Oh, man…” Shikamaru hung his head. “That’s on the opposite side of the country…”

“It will be fun, Shikamaru!” Naruto said, already back to his overexcited self. “Think about all the places we will see!”

But that didn’t cheer up Shikamaru at all, he just hung his head lower.

In Sasuke’s opinion Shikamaru was… Well, he was lazy. Yes, he was intelligent, but everything else he lacked. He was slow, which meant his reaction time was long. He could fall asleep anywhere anytime when he didn’t move for five minutes. His marks back at the Academy had been as bad as Naruto’s, but – to his surprise he had to admit – at least Naruto’s stamina helped him to be able to still go on even when Sasuke had to take a rest. Not like that ever happened. He couldn’t let Naruto be better in anything than him. Shikamaru also had this problem with his chakra passages, which should’ve been dealt with back at the Academy. And now they couldn’t advance with their training, because Naruto outright refused to get ahead with Shikamaru stagnating on the easiest level. That was an other matter that Sasuke also refused to go on like this, but he didn’t want to dwell on it too much, if at all.

Long story short, Shikamaru was not ninja material. No matter how big the Nara clan was and he was the next head of the clan after his father, they’d better look for someone else, because this guy? He’d never be able to lead a clan.

Or there was little hope that it would turn out good for the Nara clan.

“We’re leaving now then” Kakashi continued after he checked their bags. “It takes about three days to get to the eastern border, so we have to make a quick stop at the supply storage to get you and our client sleeping bags.”

They followed Kakashi outside. All three of them glanced at Tazuna from time to time as he continued to grunt and snarl under his breath, and on top of that he reeked of cheep alcohol.

Sasuke wasn’t looking forward to this mission at all.

*****

At first he was excited, of course. They were leaving the country for the first time since becoming a ninja. Who wouldn’t be excited about that?

But this man was annoying. And drunk. And a jerk, to be honest. They weren’t even walking for an hour when Naruto started to feel like this mission wouldn’t be that great. It was a drag, as Shikamaru said all the time, and he wanted to finish with it as soon as possible.

But they’d only arrive to the Land of Waves in three days. And three days were a long time. In three days they’d almost sowed a whole sunflower field, but now they only had to walk and keep an eye on this man.

“Tazuna-san” Shikamaru started, looking at Tazuna from where he sat. They stopped around noon to eat and rest for a bit. “In what way are you important in your country?”

Tazuna stayed silent for a while. Looking at him, Naruto noticed that the line between the man’s brows was getting deeper.

“I’m a master builder” he answered. “I’m building a bridge connecting the Land of Waves to the mainland.”

Shikamaru hummed.

“That’s quite an investment. Building a bridge requires a lot of resources and money, but in the long run it would be more rewarding since the country wouldn’t have to rely on ships as a means of transportation during trade and traveling.”

Naruto could feel the air getting colder around them. Tazuna’s shoulders tensed when not only Shikamaru watched him almost without blinking, but Kakashi too.

Tazuna cleared his throat after a while.

“Well, we in the Land of Waves are willing to make this small sacrifice for a better future.”

They didn’t say anything after that, but the tension was high among them as they continued on with their journey. Tazuna stopped snarling and drinking for the afternoon, and Naruto could see Kakashi watching the man with narrowed eyes from time to time.

Naruto wanted to know what was going on, but knew that he had to wait with asking questions. Nobody would say anything with Tazuna hearing them.

They continued on in silence until it was late afternoon. The sun was already setting, coloring the sky a dark shade of orange.

“Sensei” Shikamaru spoke up. “We need to get ready for the night. We only have two hours before the sun sets.”

Kakashi looked at the sun.

“Good thinking.” He pointed at the trees. “We’re going into the forest and look for a good spot for the camp. Then I’ll teach you how to make a campfire.”

Kakashi took the lead into the forest, followed by Sasuke and Tazuna. Shikamaru was about to walk after them but Naruto stopped him.

“How did you know that?” he asked.

Shikamaru looked at him with a frown.

“Know what?”

“That the sun sets in two hours.”

Shikamaru opened his mouth but it looked like he changed his mind. He stepped next to Naruto, facing the sun.

“Raise your hands in front of you, like this.”

He raised his hand, turned to the side, palm facing him. Naruto frowned as he watched him, raising his hand too like Shikamaru.

“Adjust the distance between your hand and your eyes, so the width of one finger is the same as the sun.”

Naruto had to squint as the sun blinded him for a moment, but he managed to do what Shikamaru asked.

“Now the time it takes for the sun to move from one finger to the next is about fifteen minutes. You just need to count how many fingers are between the sun’s current position and the horizon, and you can roughly tell the time until it sets.”

Naruto squinted and raised his other hand too. He smiled as he looked at Shikamaru.

“It’s really two hours” he said. He was happy to learn something simple yet very useful.

“Are you two coming?” Sasuke asked them, standing by the trees. “We’ll get lost if we don’t follow Kakashi-sensei.”

“Who said you had to wait for us?” Shikamaru asked, but turned to follow their teammate after Kakashi.

Naruto checked the sun one more time with his hands, then followed them with a bounce in his steps.

*****

Tazuna was acting suspiciously. Especially after Shikamaru had pointed out the benefits of a bridge between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire. There had to be more behind this story, but it was too early to make conclusions. Kakashi had to keep his eye open for anything strange and the answer would most likely come to him.

He decided to play it safe. He didn’t know what their client’s importance truly meant, so he had to be prepared for the worst. They could be tracked and ambushed in any moment, so he had to act accordingly.

“The first thing you need to learn is how to make a concealed campfire” Kakashi explained, his genin watching him with high to medium attention. “There may come a time when you are on a mission during the cold seasons and there’s a high risk of being tracked. Of course you don’t want to be seen by the enemy, but you also don’t want to freeze to death during the night. And the best way to avoid both of these is to conceal your campfire.”

Kakashi took a kunai out of its holder on his leg and crouched down next to a tree and a few bushes.

“The best place for this campfire is of course under ground level so the light wouldn’t be seen, but you also need to consider the smoke. Use the nature to your advantage. Find a tree with a bush or some smaller tree next to it to use as a cover.” He brushed his hand through the leaves of the bush. “These leaves would also dissipate the smoke and it wouldn’t be as visible from a distance. Keep in mind that the smell of the smoke will stay.” He took his backpack and pulled out a tarp. “Sasuke, would you lay it down?”

Sasuke took and unfolded the tarp, laying it down next to them.

“If you’re followed, you also don’t want to leave any traces behind. So I’ll try to lift up the upper layer of the ground in one piece so it can be placed back later.”

Kakashi pulled the leaves and the little twigs together and placed the duff on the tarp. He then took his kunai and drew two circles, a smaller and a bigger one into the dirt.

“This one will be the pit, and this is the ventilation hole. Always make sure it’s on the upwind side so the air can get to the fire.”

Kakashi started scoring around the circle with the kunai. His students were now crouching next to him, watching carefully what he was doing.

“There” Kakashi carefully lifted first the bigger top layer and places it on the tarp, then did the same with the smaller one. “Keep everything separated on the tarp.”

He started digging with the kunai. He knew it was a time consuming process, but not every ninja had a shovel in their bag going on a mission. He needed to show his genin how to use the items they always had with them. Once the pit was done he made the ventilation hole.

“Alright.” Kakashi rubbed the dirt off his fingers and gloves and turned to the three boys. “Gather some leaves, twigs and grass. Everything needs to be dry. It hadn’t rained in quite a while, so you won’t have trouble with that.”

While the genin were away Kakashi took a map out of his bag and opened it. They got pretty far from Konoha. If they continued on like this, they would reach the border earlier than expected.

Kakashi glanced up.

If there wouldn’t be any obstacles.

Tazuna sat not far from him, but far enough to have the illusion of distancing himself from them. He held his bottle, turning and twisting it in his hands like he was bored, but Kakashi knew better. The man was nervous. But until anything happened, Kakashi couldn’t tell what was behind all of this. What exactly was behind _this_ , to be more precise. Because it was about the bridge, he was sure of that.

The genin soon returned with everything he asked for. He was showing them how to make a campfire when Naruto spoke up with a low voice.

“Sensei?”

Kakashi looked at him.

Naruto bit on his lip nervously before he continued.

“Are we being tracked?”

Kakashi smiled and put a hand on his head.

“No need to worry” he said. “As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to you three.”

*****

Kakashi made some rice for them for dinner. The sky was already dark as they ate, and the fire in the pit only lit up the area right next to it.

But it was better like this, Shikamaru decided. This way their eyes would get used to the darkness and they would see if anyone tried to approach them.

Hopefully nobody wanted to approach them.

“You three take the first shift” Kakashi said after they finished eating. How he could finish his meals without them noticing when he pulled his mask down still baffled Shikamaru. “Wake me in four hours.”

“Isn’t four hours too short for a sleep?” Naruto asked.

“That’s plenty for me. Good night, Tazuna-san.”

Tazuna grunted, already in his sleeping bag, and Kakashi was soon sleeping too.

The forest at night was peaceful. They could hear some owls in the distance and a few smaller animals running around in the duff, but there was nothing else.

“I don’t like this mission” Naruto said with a low voice after a long while. “Kakashi-sensei didn’t say anything, but I know he’s worried too.”

“Tazuna-san is hiding something” Sasuke agreed, voice like a whisper. He looked at Shikamaru. “You saw how he reacted when you mentioned the benefits of a bridge.”

Shikamaru nodded. At first he hadn’t expected a reaction from the man, but once he’d gotten one he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of business Tazuna had gotten into. Was he really the person he claimed himself to be? Or was he telling the truth, and that had gotten him into trouble?

“Do you think someone is after him?” Naruto asked. “Maybe someone wants to kill him and that’s why he came to Konoha for protection.”

“But then this mission shouldn’t be a C-Rank.” Shikamaru crossed his arms, eyes searching the trees. “You should only meet with simple uneducated bandits, if you meet any. Protecting a client from hired assassins is a B-Rank mission at the very least. Holding back vital information like this about a request is considered a crime. If Tazuna-san is really afraid that someone would attack and kill him, he should’ve asked for a team of chuunin to protect him.”

Unless…

Shikamaru froze. Would the man really do that? Risking the lives of a few rookie genin?

“What is it?” Naruto leaned forward to look into his eyes. Shikamaru didn’t notice he hung his head at one point.

“Think about it.” He leaned on his elbows on his knees so he could see his teammates better. “We became a genin only a month ago. Chuunin are ninja who already passed their Chuunin Exam. Comparing the two, genin and chuunin, what do you think, what’s the difference between the two?”

“Experience” Sasuke answered. Then he continued, as he started to connect the dots in his head. “Since they know more, their price is higher, unlike us, who know little to nothing compared to them.”

“Exactly.” Shikamaru nodded. “And as I mentioned, building a bridge takes a lot of money. And the more money they spend on it, the less they would have for a more experienced team of ninjas.”

“So…” Naruto started, pausing to think about it. “We were cheap. Because we are genin.”

“Rookie genin, yes. There’s a chart in the lobby of the Hokage Tower” Shikamaru explained. “There’s a list of missions under every rank and the price. Tazuna-san most likely chose the cheapest that was the closest to what he wanted.”

Sasuke’s frown deepened while Naruto’s shoulders dropped.

“Are we in trouble?” Naruto asked.

“We should keep our guard up” Shikamaru suggested, but didn’t deny that they were in fact in trouble. “As long as we stick together and protect each other there shouldn’t be any problem.”

At least he tried to believe in what he was saying.

*****

They covered back the holes the next day and continued their journey to the Land of Waves. Naruto couldn’t sleep much the previous night. As soon as his eyes had been about to close he’d heard something in the bushes or in the grass and he’d been wide awake again. Somewhere during the night he’d felt a light touch on his back and in the next moment the sun had been already up.

He couldn’t help but worry what would happen to them on this mission. After their talk the previous night, Naruto was searching the woods around them with his eyes, trying to find anything unusual. Who would attack them? Where would they come from? Would they be able to protect Tazuna and themselves?

“Don’t worry that much” Shikamaru told him when he caught up to Naruto. “Remember, we’re a team, we have to work together. Sasuke’s watching our back, I’m watching our left, so you keep an eye on the right, okay?”

Naruto let out a shaky breath and nodded, focusing on the trees on his right.

For a long while everything was peaceful. They crossed a bridge over a steam, passed by a field of cornflowers, then continued on in the woods. They hadn’t met anyone and Naruto wondered if there were any villages around here at all.

“Isn’t anyone living around here?” Naruto asked, looking at Kakashi.

“There are some villages, cities even, but I chose to take this route instead” Kakashi answered. “I decided it was better not to cross any settlements.”

Oh.

Naruto stepped over a puddle as he looked ahead again.

A settlement meant a lot of people, right? And there was probably someone out there who wanted to kill Tazuna. So it was better if—

Wait…

Didn’t Kakashi say there hadn’t been any rain in the area for a while now?

How did that puddle—

“Sensei!” Sasuke yelled.

Naruto was turning his way when two ninjas jumped at them. He hadn’t seen any ninjas like them. And their forehead protector didn’t have the Leaf symbol on it.

And they were fast. One moment they were still in the air above them, in the next they had a spiky chain around Kakashi. They pulled the chain and—

Naruto froze.

Did they just cut their teacher in half…?

The enemy ninjas jumped up again and one of them was about to attack Tazuna, who stood frozen in one place, staring at their attackers with wide eyes.

“Watch out!” Naruto yelled and pushed Tazuna out of the way.

He felt a sharp pain in his hand, but he was too focused on the danger to really pay any attention to it.

“You little…!” the ninja who tried to attack Tazuna yelled at him and was about to swing his arm at him. He had a metal glove with claws on it.

Naruto watched as the claws got closer to him.

He couldn’t move.

He was helpless.

There were no white masked ninjas to save him, like the one who had saved him from a group of drunken men when he was little.

He would be killed.

Here.

Now.

Out of nowhere Sasuke appeared and kicked away the ninja. The man landed not far from them, but he was quickly on his feet again.

“Shadow Possession Justu!” He heard Shikamaru. Glancing back, Naruto saw Shikamaru holding back the other ninja with his shadow as he stood between him and Tazuna.

“You’ll pay for this, brat!” the ninja Sasuke kicked away yelled and started running towards them.

Naruto took a kunai in his hand, now ready for the attack.

But his attention was drawn away.

Sasuke stared at Naruto's hand.

His face was getting paler.

His body started shaking.

“Sasuke?” Naruto asked uncertainly.

There was a loud thump and Naruto and Sasuke both jumped.

The enemy ninja was on the ground.

With Kakashi’s knee sinking deep into his back.

“Sensei!” Naruto let out a cheer with relief. “I thought you died!”

But Kakashi didn’t look at him. He was staring past them with dark eyes and walked by them without a word after he stood up.

“Release him.”

Shikamaru raised his hands, eyes wide as he watched Kakashi knocking the other enemy ninja out with one punch.

Everything was dead silent.

Naruto was afraid to even breathe.

Kakashi slowly straightened himself and turned to look at Tazuna.

Then he started walking towards him.

“Hatake-san—” Tazuna started but Kakashi was quickly in front of him. He grabbed the man by his shirt and shoved him against the closest tree.

“ _You_ ” he started. His voice was barely a whisper, but there was still a chill running down Naruto’s spine. He had never seen Kakashi that scary. “Start talking. _Now_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Land of Waves Arc! As you can see the arc starts about the same way as in canon, but there will soon be changes. And some deep stuff and some head canons and such. And a ship that came out of nowhere. You’ll see. I’m devastated…
> 
> Starting with this chapter the POV rotation changes. So starting with this chapter: Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, Team Kakashi, Team Kurenai, Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, and so on. Team Kakashi obviously has a bigger arc with the Land of Waves, while the other two have smaller but not less significant ones.
> 
> But let’s talk about the chapter a bit :)
> 
> \- You may say ’But Yana. What Kakashi says is basically Pein’s philosophy of the cycle of hate.’ And yes, yes it is. Philosophies are not exclusive to one character only. While Pein wanted to stop the hate by killing the system, Kakashi put an end to it on a personal level. He had all the reason to go on a rampage and kill everyone in Iwa and Kiri. Rock ninjas caused the death of Obito, Mist ninjas used Rin as a human time bomb. But he didn’t blame everyone for the actions of a few. On the other hand he punished himself for it, but that’s an other story.
> 
> \- Speaking of Obito… Please welcome KakaObi, as the newest ship of this rewrite. Obito’s death in Naruto Shippuuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is so… sooooo… so of course it made me ship them. (Side note: I consider the ending of that game to be the canon ending of the canon.) But which statement is true in Yamato’s question here? Was there anything that Kakashi only noticed when it was too late, or was Obito’s memory twisted into an idealistic picture Kakashi is still obsessed with? Hm… (I’ll add the ship tag next chapter)(Also I’m waiting for a certain part for the SasuSaku tag to become relevant.)
> 
> \- So when I started writing I could’ve sworn Ayame was around twenty. Then I went to look up something on Narutopedia and saw her canon age, and I was like nooooo, my plans……… =_= So, I hereby announce that Ayame is in her twenties in this fic. There will be a lot of planned age changes in the future, so I’m starting with this unknown one =_=”
> 
> \- So Shikamaru’s chakra. I know it sounds random. It sounded random when I first came up with it. I asked myself what would be the best way to put an obstacle in Shikamaru’s way that wouldn’t allow him to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke, and also play a big part in his character arc. And this happened. But as I was planning it bloomed into something big (I don’t want to use ‘great’ because it may not be X’D) and somewhere down the line it will have its role.
> 
> \- I looked up how to make a campfire like that on YouTube. Useful skill in the post-apocalyptic world we’re heading towards to. Also the sun-timing thing is a pretty useful skill to know too.


	10. Team 8's First C-Rank Mission

Hinata fidgeted at the entrance, her fingers tight around the straps of her backpack.

She was nervous about leaving the village. Last time she was outside it hadn’t been her decision. She didn’t remember much, but the thought of anything being out there after her scared her. Would they hide behind the trees? In the bushes? Lurk in their shadows? Waiting for the right moment to strike them down and take her again?

“Hinata-sama?”

Hinata jumped a bit. She hadn’t expected anyone to be around the entrance at this hour. Her father was on a meeting with the Council, Hanabi was out with Natsu, Neji was on a mission with his team, and everyone else was also busy.

Kou walked up to her, looking at her with concern. He was one of the very few people who honestly cared for her in the clan.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

Hinata shifted on her feet, looking away.

“My team is leaving for a C-Rank mission. We’re going outside of Konoha.”

Understanding her fears, Kou hummed and lowered his gaze.

“I can’t imagine how you feel right now” he said. “You don’t have the greatest experience of the world outside of Konoha. But I’m sure Asuma-san won’t let anything happen to you. He was once one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. You’re safe with him.”

Hinata nodded. She sometimes wondered if this was the reason why Asuma became her sensei. To be her bodyguard when she became a genin. She was sure Asuma had better things to do than be her guard. Was he forced into this role by someone?

And honestly… What would he mainly protect her from? Enemy ninjas?

Or maybe her own family…?

Hinata bit on her lower lip. She was terrified of each new day because she had no idea what would happen to her next. When would the Elders and her father finally decide to give her a seal and banish her to the branch family? When would she be woken up in the middle of the night to be dragged outside for her branding?

She didn’t want the seal.

She didn’t want Hanabi to be sealed.

She didn’t want anyone to be sealed.

But the seal was on everyone’s forehead in the branch family. Kou had it under his forehead protector, Natsu too, and Neji…

“I’m leaving on a mission” Kou said, adjusting his backpack. “I won’t be back for at least a week. I wish you the best on your first C-Rank mission, Hinata-sama.”

Kou was about to open the entrance, but Hinata grabbed his wrist. She surprised even herself with it.

“Hinata-sama?” Kou frowned, concern leaking into his voice. “Is something wrong?”

“Kou?”

“Yes?”

Hinata chewed on her lip before she looked into the other’s eyes. She could barely breathe.

“What does the Seal feel like?”

Kou paled in a second. Hinata felt a shiver running down his arm under her palm. She was terrified that she gave voice to her fear just like that. Talking about the Seal was a taboo. And she just mentioned it so openly…

What was she thinking?

“I—” Hinata started, pulling back her hand.

_Knock._

Hinata jumped in surprise and Kou opened the door with one fast motion.

Sakura stood outside, hand still raised after she knocked. She took a step back when the door slid open so suddenly, then looked at the two of them with curiosity.

“Hi” she said, uncertain. “I just came to pick Hinata up. Asuma-sensei is waiting for us at the Gate.”

Had it been so long already? How long had her team waited before Sakura came to look after her? She had no idea what time it was…

“I’m leaving then. Take care, Hinata-sama.”

Kou passed Sakura and jumped on the closest roof. A few moments and he was out of Hinata’s sight.

Something tightened up in Hinata’s chest.

She didn’t want to hurt her only ally in the compound…

Sakura turned to the direction where Kou left and arched a brow.

“Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yes” Hinata said and stepped outside in a hurry. “Let’s go.”

Sakura didn’t say anything on their way to the Gate, but Hinata knew she wanted to. She felt the other girl’s eyes on her from time to time, and Hinata couldn’t help but lower her head, hiding the lower part of her face behind her forehead protector.

There would eventually be questions, she knew that, and she had to give answers. But what would her team think about her after they’d find out about her family? Would they think she was just like them? Joining in the clan customs, even enjoying those? Would they think she would brand her own sister just because she was younger than her?

“There you are, Hinata!” Asuma said as soon as they arrived to the Gate. “Did you pack everything?”

Hinata nodded.

From the corner of her eye she saw Sakura and Chouji exchanging a quick look. Hinata bit on the inside of her mouth. They were already talking about her behind her back, she knew it.

“Alright then, guys!” Asuma showed them their mission scroll. “Our first C-Rank mission is about to start. We’re going to the Fire Temple to bring a report back to Konoha.”

“Why don’t they send it with a hawk?” Chouji asked.

Asuma rubbed the back of his head.

“You see, a friend of mine is the Head Monk of the temple, so when he heard that I got a genin team, he wanted to meet you guys.” He let out a laugh. “So! We’ll arrive to the Fire Temple by nightfall, so we’ll stay the night and only return tomorrow afternoon.”

Chouji let out a long sigh, muttering something about long walks. Sakura on the other hand seemed rather excited. She bounced a little on her heels, a smile spreading on her face.

“Let’s go then.” Asuma waved to the chuunin stationed at the Gate then walked out, Sakura and Chouji followed him without hesitation.

Hinata took a few steps towards the world outside Konoha then came to a halt. Her legs were petrified. She couldn’t move. What if someone was out there, waiting for this exact moment? What if she took a step outside and the enemy took her away?

She couldn’t leave…

She couldn’t…

There was a warm touch on her hand.

Hinata jumped a bit, looking up.

Her eyes met with Sakura’s.

“It’s okay” she said. Hinata had no idea if Sakura knew about her kidnapping, but her voice was gentle yet so strong that Hinata couldn’t help but trust her teammate.

She took her first voluntary step outside of Konoha.

Sakura was holding her hand for a very long time.

*****

He hadn’t been this tired. Ever.

They’d stopped a few times to rest and eat, of course, they weren’t in a hurry. The forest was honestly beautiful and it was exciting to finally see the world outside of Konoha, but still. His legs hurt by the time they reached the temple. And the worst part was still ahead of them:

The stairs.

The longest staircase he had ever seen led up to the temple on top of the hill, that he couldn’t even see from this far.

“Sensei” he started. “Can’t we just ask someone to bring that report down to us?”

Asuma laughed.

“And miss seeing the beauty of the Fire Temple? Nah. Come on, guys!”

If Chouji’s legs hurt before, now they were killing him. He was quickly out of breath, and the heat of the afternoon sun on the back of his neck didn’t help him at all. He could only imagine how red it was already, and how it would hurt at night.

Asuma and Sakura were walking ahead of him. Chouji didn’t know how but Sakura still had the energy and breath to ask questions from their sensei.

Hinata on the other hand…

Chouji looked back. The girl was a few steps behind him and her pale skin looked even paler as she was trying to catch her breath. She barely lifted her legs as she walked up step after step, and in one unfortunate moment her foot caught on one of them.

Chouji caught Hinata’s shoulder before she could even let out a yelp.

“Did you hurt your leg?” Chouji asked.

Hinata shook her head. She was so out of breath, she couldn’t even say a word for a while.

“I’m okay… I just… didn’t pay… attention…” she finally managed to say.

Chouji looked up behind him. Asuma and Sakura was already far from them, but at least he could see the top of the stairs now.

“Come on” he said and held out his hand towards Hinata. “It’s not so far now.”

Hinata looked at his hand without saying a word, and suddenly Chouji became too self-aware. Why would Hinata allow him to hold her hand? His palm was sweaty, he could feel it. Who would want to hold a sweaty hand? He shouldn’t have—

Then Hinata slowly raised her own hand and placed it in Chouji’s.

“Okay” she said, nodding.

Chouji quickly nodded and turned to continue his way up, pulling Hinata with him.

It somewhat felt a bit easier now. His legs felt stronger and steadier, and he didn’t feel that tired anymore. Maybe because he was helping someone and in some way that person was depending on him.

To be honest he was a little concerned about Hinata. She was never late from anywhere, so it had been a surprise when she hadn’t shown up in time. And once she’d arrived she’d looked like something deeply shook her. She’d been holding on to Sakura’s hand as they’d walked through the forest like her life had been depending on it.

But he decided he wouldn’t ask. If it was really something about her family, then Chouji wouldn’t start asking anything. If Hinata wanted to open up to them, he would be there to listen.

Until then he would support her to the best of his abilities.

Chouji let out a long breath when they finally got to the top of the stairs. A gate made out of iron towered over them with a statue on each side. Chouji had no idea who those figures were, some kind of deities he guessed.

“Thank you” Hinata said next to him once she was breathing normally.

“No problem” Chouji said and let go of Hinata’s hand.

Asuma knocked twice when they walked up to him. The whole gate resonated with it, and for a moment Chouji feared that the gate would fall down on them.

He did jump when the gate moved all of a sudden, but it was only opening, the two wings moving to the inside.

A man walked out to greet them. He was bald, and he had a frown so deep Chouji wondered if his forehead was always this furrowed. He wasn’t angry, he just looked stern and serious. Still, there was a glint in his eyes when he stopped in front of Asuma.

“Asuma” the man said. “It’s been a while.”

Asuma laughed.

“A long while” Asuma agreed then turned to the three genin. “Guys, this is Chiriku, the Head Monk of the Fire Temple.” He looked back at Chiriku. “And these are my genin. Sakura, Hinata and Chouji.”

All three of them bowed and greeted the man. Chiriku let out a huff. That probably counted as a laugh in his case.

“Are they really your genin?” he asked.

Asuma put a hand on his chest with an exaggerated pained expression.

“Chiriku, come on!” he said. “Why is it so surprising that my genin are polite?”

Chiriku raised a brow.

“After the pranks you pulled in the daimyou’s castle? It’s hard to believe.”

Sakura gasped, pointing at Asuma.

“You really _were_ like Naruto! How?! I thought everyone was just joking!”

Asuma winced at that.

“Everyone?”

“You didn’t tell them about yourself?” Chiriku shook his head as he was clicking his tongue then turned towards the temple. “Come inside, children. I’ll show you around.”

“Chiriku, you bastard…” Asuma muttered under his breath but followed them inside.

The temple was… massive. Between the entrance and the temple was a wide yard and the temple itself was gigantic too. Monks stood around or walked up the stairs, but they all looked like ants compared to the building.

And it was beautiful in the inside too with all those stone carvings and red decorations. Chouji had never seen a place like this before. There weren’t really any temples in Konoha, only memorials and a few shrines here and there, especially in the Senju Park, so he couldn’t compare it to anything. Konoha wasn’t famous of its buildings. Everything was simple, even the Hokage Tower was nothing special.

“This will be your quarters” Chiriku said after they walked down a long corridor. “These two rooms to the left and these two to the right. I hope you will be satisfied with them.”

“Of course” Asuma nodded. “Thanks Chiriku.”

The monk nodded then walked away.

“Alright, guys” Asuma said, turning to them. “Have some rest, then see you in the yard in an hour. We’ll have some hand-to-hand practice.”

Chouji let out a sigh. An hour of rest after this long a walk would be so short. And training after all that? His legs would surely kill him.

“Here Chouji-kun” Hinata said, handing him a small box. “I made you some taiyaki.”

Chouji took the box, thanking it. Hinata was so kind to them, looking after the team and all.

He walked into his room, knowing that as he would rest, he could eat something really delicious. He didn’t even taste it yet, but he already knew it would be amazing.

He hoped his mother wouldn’t find out that he started to like the meals made by Hinata more than hers…

*****

The hand-to-hand combat, for the lack of better words, was frustrating.

“Damn it…” Sakura muttered, swiping her hair out of her face once again. Her hair got longer in the past month, long past the length that would comfortably stay behind her ears. And it was getting frustrating real fast.

And swiping her hair out of her face was enough distraction for her to not see Chouji’s fist that painfully collided with her shoulder.

“I’m sorry!” Chouji said quickly, looking at Sakura’s reddening shoulder. “I didn’t want to hurt you!”

“Enough Chouji” Asuma said. He was scolding Chouji, but he somehow could manage to do it without them feeling too bad after it. “There’s nothing more disrespectful towards a kunoichi than assuming that they can’t bear pain. Most of them have a higher pain tolerance than us.” Then he turned to her. “Distractions can cost a life, Sakura. There are many ninjas who have long hair, but if it bothers you during combat you’ll need to come up with a solution.”

Sakura let out a sigh.

“Yes, sensei.”

She stepped away when Hinata took Sakura’s place as Chouji’s opponent and took her hair between her fingers.

She’d always had short hair as a small child. It’d been only after she’d found out that Sasuke liked long-haired girls that she’d started growing it out. It’d been a struggle at first, but she’d quickly gotten used to it. She’d needed to get used to it because of Sasuke.

But what Chouji had said a month ago… That Sasuke had been mean to all of them…

She started to have doubts.

“Sakura-san?”

Sakura looked up. She hadn’t noticed when the training had ended. Chouji and Asuma weren’t anywhere and Hinata stood in front of her. She tilted her head to the right, smiling at Sakura.

“May I braid your hair?” Hinata asked.

Sakura blinked then nodded. She sat down on the stairs of the temple and Hinata did too a few steps above her. Sakura took off her forehead protector and let Hinata do whatever she wanted with her hair.

When Ino’s hair had gotten too long, she’d started to wear it in a ponytail, but Sakura had kept it down. It’d been long after their rivalry had started. Sakura hadn’t wanted to follow Ino anymore. They’d both wanted to gain the same boy’s attention, so by Sakura’s logic they’d had to show their own uniqueness.

But she had so many doubts now…

She missed Ino so much…

Maybe she said it out loud or something, she didn’t know. Hinata brushed Sakura’s hair from her forehead to the back and asked:

“Aren’t you friends with Ino-san?”

Sakura rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“It’s… complicated.”

“How so? I remember you looked happier when you were with her. You smiled a lot, you even tied up your hair with a ribbon.”

The ribbon Sakura still had. She’d put it in one of her drawers once she’d gotten her forehead protector, deciding that it was the end of an era.

“It turned out both of us liked the same boy” she answered, embarrassed by how small and uncertain she sounded.

Hinata brushed back her hair from the other side too, starting to pull it from the top of her head.

“Was it worth it?”

Sakura blinked.

“What?”

“Love. Is it worth losing our best friend for it?”

Sakura closed her eyes.

Was it true love when one turned their back to friendship?

Was it true friendship when love could put an end to it?

So many doubts…

“Hinata?” When the girl hummed she continued. “Why do you like Naruto?”

She felt Hinata stopping for a moment. She didn’t say anything for so long that Sakura started to doubt she would answer.

“Because no matter how cruel everyone was with him, he never gave up and stayed true to himself” she said in the end. “He inspired me a lot when we were little. Then I grew to admire him.”

Sakura sat in silence, looking around the yard. The sun was below the line of trees surrounding the temple. The sky was a deep shade of orange and the darker colors merged with the shadows. A few monks were still out, walking around and talking. Sakura watched them, but her mind was so full she couldn’t wonder what they were doing at this hour, if they had any duties around the temple.

Did Sasuke inspire Sakura in any way, like Naruto inspired Hinata? Was wanting to be better to impress a boy a good enough inspiration? Was this obsession only about the thrill of gaining a boy’s attention without any true feelings behind it? Was she so obsessed with the ideal image of this boy that she didn’t see or totally ignored the darker parts of him?

“Is he mean?” she asked all of a sudden.

Hinata stopped again.

“Who?”

Sakura let out a long sigh.

“Sasuke-kun.”

She could feel Hinata thinking behind her.

“I think…” she started, but paused for a moment. “I think he’s more annoyed than mean. I visited the Uchiha compound a few times with my father when I was little, and Fugaku-san came to us a few times too with his sons. Sasuke-kun used to be shy and quite outside of the Academy. I think it bothered him that he started to get all that attention right around the time his clan died.”

Sakura froze.

She actually felt a blizzard starting in her stomach and swiping away everything on its way to her head. The veins in her forearms became icicles, chilling her skin from the inside.

“What…?” She turned to look back at Hinata so fast she hit her neck with her braid. Fortunately Hinata already tied it at the end.

Hinata frowned at her for a moment before her eyes widened, more out of fear than surprise.

“You don’t know…”

“Know what?”

Hinata hesitated before she answered.

“All members of the Uchiha clan were murdered. Only Sasuke survived.”

She was getting sick…

She was actually getting sick.

She felt it in her stomach.

The bile rising and burning the back of her throat.

Sakura swallowed.

“I didn’t know that…”

Her father used to tell her not to wander around the Uchiha compound when she was little. Then after a while he’d stopped saying that. She’d never really thought about it much, she didn’t really know where it was exactly.

Now she got her answer.

“I’m sorry.”

Sakura quickly looked back at Hinata.

“No, don’t be. You didn’t do anything wrong. Me on the other hand?” She let out a sigh as her gaze dropped to her hands in her lap. “I was ignorant. I shouldn’t have acted like that all the time around him.”

“Sakura-san.” Hinata moved lower on the stairs, now sitting next to Sakura. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known. I only know about it because I once heard my father talking about it. We children…” she started, but stopped, maybe to gather her thoughts. “There are many things hidden from us that the adults all know. This is only one of them. Who knows how many other secrets are out there.”

“But… How can a whole clan be killed without everyone talking about it?” she wondered out loud. She didn’t remember much of the Uchiha, she hadn’t really met any apart from Sasuke, but somebody should’ve noticed it. A whole clan couldn’t just disappear one day. But it’d still managed to.

“Maybe…” Hinata started. “Maybe the villagers are forbidden to talk about it?”

“What can prevent a whole village to talk about something?” Sakura asked, because that just wasn’t possible. She’d seen old ladies sitting on benches, pointing at the people who walked by them, knowing exactly who they were, where they were going, what their second and third cousins were doing. A whole clan dying out was something everyone would talk about for years.

“Fear” Hinata said. “I think they’re scared that whatever killed the Uchiha would kill them too.”

Sakura let out a long sigh, turning back to the yard. The orange was gone from the sky, a deep purple took its place now and Sakura could see faint little stars appearing.

She couldn’t imagine what Sasuke had gone through after the death of his family. She hadn’t noticed any changes with his behavior. He’d been always so aloof, a little bit cold, hard to approach. Maybe that was why every girl was so attracted to him. He was mysterious, a lone wolf, somebody who was difficult to get close to. And that was the excitement in all of that. If any of the girls could do that, that would be the greatest achievement of their lives.

But in all that rivalry and competition, they’d failed to notice a boy who was grieving his family.

“I decided” she said.

She could see the confusion on Hinata’s face from the corner of her eye.

“Decided what?”

Sakura took a deep breath.

“That from now on I won’t run after a boy. I don’t want to impress them, I don’t want to fight for their attention with a friend. I don’t want to be obsessed with them, only to be blind to their struggles. I’ll try to be the best of myself as much as I can and if they like the real me…” She smiled at Hinata. “Well, then I’ll maybe give them a chance.”

Hinata stared at her, eyes wide like she didn’t know what Sakura was talking about. For a moment Sakura wondered if her words had made any sense at all, but Hinata smiled back at her.

“You’re already a good person, Sakura-san. Have confidence in yourself.”

Confidence. Ino had given her the confidence to show the world who she was on the outside. And maybe Hinata would be… No. Hinata _was_ the person to give her the confidence to show the world who she really was inside. Ino’s hand had pulled her up to stand tall, but Hinata’s hand gave her the push so she would finally go forward.

Sakura started laughing, her eyes welling up. She pulled her newly made braid over her shoulder, brushing it with her fingers.

“Yeah.”

*****

It had been a while since he visited the Fire Temple the last time. The place didn’t change much, there were only some new faces among the monks.

The first time he’d been here… It had been with his mother.

One of Biwako’s old teammates had been a monk. Asuma had been around six, he still remembered how he’d run up the long stairway and how much he had wined when his legs had hurt that night.

“You are too hasty, Asuma” she’d said. She’d put a cold wet cloth on both of his legs and gave him a slice of watermelon. “You need to take it slower. Rushing through everything won’t benefit you at all.”

He smiled at the memory.

He still missed his mother, he didn’t think he would ever stop missing her. But the years had tamed the pain. It didn’t feel like an open wound across his chest anymore, more like a scar that started to pulse and ache when the weather changed from sunny to windy.

He held in a breath then let it out slowly, the smoke almost invisible in the light of the moon. His mother, the always serious medic, wouldn’t be happy to see him damaging his body like this.

“Asuma-sensei?” came a soft voice from behind him.

Asuma turned around. Hinata slowly walked towards him, careful not to slip on the roof tiles. She’d finally managed to walk up the tree without falling down the previous week. She was the last to do it out of the three, which surprised Asuma a bit. It shouldn’t have really. The Akimichi needed great chakra control to expand their bodies to the size they wanted to, while the Hyuuga only needed accuracy to stop someone’s chakra circulation. But he didn’t say anything about it. He was just happy that the whole team was getting better and became more confident.

Maybe that lack of confidence was the obstacle that held back Hinata so much for so long.

“You’re still up, Hinata?” he asked. “What’s the matter?”

He patted the roof next to him. Hinata carefully walked there then took a seat. She was rubbing her fingers together nervously, fixing her eyes on them.

“I…” she started. “I wanted to ask you something for a while now, sensei… But I didn’t know how to start.”

Asuma hummed, stubbing out his cigarette on one of the roof tiles. Chiriku would kick him back to Konoha if he’d known but Asuma would make sure he wouldn’t find out.

“Take your time, Hinata” he said. “We have plenty.”

Hinata shifted next to him and he suddenly had a feeling he knew exactly what the girl wanted to talk about.

“Were you chosen as my teacher so you would protect me?”

And there it was.

He should’ve saved his cigarette for this talk.

“Yes” he said. “For a certain extent.”

Hinata looked up at him, waiting for the explanation. Asuma debated for a few seconds what to tell and what to keep from her. She needed to know the part that concerned her. But she didn’t necessarily need to know about his own issues.

“The Hokage asked me to protect and teach you until you’re able to protect yourself.”

Hinata dropped her gaze, then pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. She let out a long breath.

“I’m sorry.”

Asuma frowned.

“For what?

“You probably have better things to do then wasting your time for me.”

Asuma shook his head.

“Hinata. If I could’ve chosen between this and anything else, I would still be here today, sitting with you on this rooftop. The things that are going on in your family, it’s cruel and unfair. You and your sister hadn’t done anything to deserve this treatment. You didn’t ask to be born into a clan with these traditions. I want you to have a chance to choose what kind of life you want to live, to be free of this system.”

Hinata started blinking rapidly before she decided to just shut her eyes really tight. It didn’t prevent a few tears from escaping though.

“But… These eyes are dangerous” she said, and it almost sounded like something she’d already repeated many times in her head, something that she’d already heard from everyone all around her. “It can make the strongest ninja unable to fight, or destroy their body from the inside with a single touch. It can be used to cast a devastating genjutsu on countless people at the same time. If it gets into the wrong hands, if they learn how to use it, Konoha could be destroyed. This is why the seal has to be placed on us.”

Hinata brushed the tears off her cheeks only for new ones take their place.

“But I don’t want the seal. And I don’t want Hanabi to be branded either. I had to watch day after day how it changed Neji. I don’t want any of us to go through that.”

Asuma let out a sigh, then placed a hand on Hinata’s back, rubbing it up and down.

“I want to say that I know what you should do. But I don’t. The only thing I can do is to train you and not let anyone from your clan harm you as long as you’re in my team. With time maybe we can come up with a solution.”

He knew this didn’t help Hinata at all. She feared for her freedom and her sister’s too, but as long as the Hyuuga followed their cruel traditions siblings were destined to walk on different paths. One free to roam but bound by a higher force, one free of bounds but locked inside a compound.

All the Hyuuga were crazy.

All but these innocent children who never chose to be part of this insanity. But if nothing happened, they would too end up becoming people like the Hyuuga elders.

“We’ll think about something” he said, still rubbing the silently crying Hinata’s back.

*****

She didn’t know what woke her up. The sun was still down but the horizon started to have this nice shade of light blue in the east. A chill ran down her back once she sat up and the cool morning air touched her warm skin. Sakura stretched, deciding that if she was already up, she should do some exercises.

Asuma had introduced her to his friend in the hospital when they helped out the staff there on a D-Rank mission. He’d been a middle aged man named Manase with a prosthetic leg who walked around with the help of a cane. Sakura hadn’t asked but she’d guessed he’d probably lost his leg during the last war.

“Here’s your diet for the first few weeks” Manase had sad, writing in a little notebook. “I wrote down some exercises too. Please, do each exercise slowly. Aim for quality not quantity.”

Sakura was following Manase’s instructions faithfully, knowing well that all of that was for her own good. She always started and ended her day with some stretching, adding an extra one around noon if she felt something aching. She was also building up her muscles for real pushups by doing it against a wall. She started with ten and added one more each day.

So Sakura got up, got dressed, braided her hair, then made her way out of the building.

She decided she would start with some running. The yard was big enough for her to do some laps, then she would do some stretching. She’d be finished by the time her teammates were up and ready to return to Konoha.

If only she could decide what to do with her life that easily like she planned out her mornings.

Because her whole life, be it her emotions and her future, was a big uncertainty. She still hadn’t decided what to do with her life as a ninja. What kind of ninja did she want to be? No clue. Absolutely nothing. She’d joined the Academy thinking that she would be like her parents, but even they’d been different kinds of ninjas.

Kizashi and Mebuki were both chuunin, maybe her mother had been almost a jounin but Sakura wasn’t so sure. Her father used to be a desk chuunin, preferring paperwork over violence and going on missions. Missions had been her mother’s kind of job. She’d preferred to fight with only her fists, like the rest of her team.

So Sakura had a lot of possibilities, not just these two. She’d have to look it up in some books when she got home. She was still early on her journey to become a ninja, but she didn’t like this uncertainty. It felt like she was sitting on a boat during a storm without any shore in sight. It was scary to think she had no goals in her life. She wanted to find her purpose in life in the near future, not decades later when it would be too late to do anything.

She’d just finished with her second lap when the first monks walked out of the temple. Sakura stopped running and decided to finish for that morning. She didn’t want to bother the monks, whatever they were about to do.

She was halfway up the stairs when he heard tens of swords being unsheathed.

Sakura stopped to take a look back.

The sight was… mesmerizing. The way the monks moved in perfect harmony, the way the light of the rising sun glinted on the blades. Every movement they made seemed so effortless. They were performing a dance and the sword was their partner. And as Sakura stood there and watched this whole performance unfolding in front of her…

… she wanted to be a part of it too.

“I see you found interest in the sword.”

Sakura jumped a bit and looked behind her, her hair almost hitting her on the face.

“Chiriku-san! I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

Chiriku motioned with his hand and Sakura quickly closed her mouth. The monk walked down the stairs and stopped next to Sakura to watch the other monks training.

“Any weapon in any fighting style becomes not a tool, but the extension of the user’s body. The ninja and their weapon of choice must be in perfect harmony, or their fate would be sealed by their enemy.” He looked at Sakura. “Have you ever tried a sword?”

Sakura shook her head.

Chiriku smiled at her.

“Come with me.”

Sakura looked at the monks one last time before she followed Chiriki inside.

She soon found herself in a weapons storage room. Some of the swords, all decorated with different carvings on the blade, and other decorations on the hilt, were on display, while others were inside boxes. Chiriku opened one of those boxes and took out a long katana.

“Hold it” he said.

Sakura took the sword from him. It felt a bit odd in her hand. It weighted down her arm and soon she had to lower it.

“No, this isn’t the one.” Chiriku took back the katana and opened an other box. “This is a wakizashi” he explained showing Sakura a much shorter sword. “It’s usually worn together with a katana, but I think you may use it on its own while you’re learning.”

When Sakura held that sword it didn’t feel odd like the other one. She slowly turned it in her hand, looking at it from all directions and angles. It was so beautiful with its burgundy colored hilt and it felt so… right holding it in her hand. Like there was always a missing part in her that she only noticed when she already found it.

“You may keep it.”

Sakura stared at the monk.

“Are you… sure?”

Chiriku nodded.

“There are moments in a person’s life when they feel a force guiding them to a certain direction. Your direction is now shaped by this wakizashi. It called out to you and you answered it. It would take you to the next destination of your journey.”

Sakura still felt like she was under some kind of spell when she returned to her room to get everything packed. She couldn’t stop looking away from her sword. She’d never held one in her life, but somehow she was convinced this was the right direction for her.

Kenjutsu… It opened up so many possibilities for her. She could use it on its own, but also combine it with several different techniques. Of course she first needed to learn how to actually use her wakizashi, but just thinking about it made her almost jump with excitement.

The future started to seem just a bit brighter.

*****

“Chiriku” Asuma said with a warning tone after Sakura ran out of the temple with a short sword held above her head, yelling with joy that she’d gotten a sword. “I won’t let you sway my student to join the Temple.”

Chiriku shrugged, looking like the serious Head Monk everyone knew him as, but Asuma knew him better. The bastard…

“I thank you for your service.” Chiriku gave Asuma the report they needed to deliver. “Have a safe trip on your way back to Konoha.”

“Thank you for the sword, Chiriku-san” Sakura said, hugging the sheathed sword to her chest.

Chiriku smiled at her.

“I wish you the best in learning how to use it. One day I would like to see how much you progressed.”

“Okay, enough” Asuma said and started shepherding his genin towards the stairs. “It was good to see you, Chiriku.”

“Goodbye, Asuma.” Then after a while he added: “Please forward my best wishes to your girlfriend.”

_Oh, for fu—_

Sakura gasped out loud. Even Hinata stared at him with wide eyes and a slight blush on the top of her cheeks.

“Asuma-sensei! You have a girlfriend?!”

He could hear Chiriku chuckling under his breath as he closed the gates behind them. He would strangle the man the next time they see each other.

“I don’t have a girlfriend” he said.

“Why didn’t you tell us about her?!” Sakura asked, completely ignoring his protest. “Who is she? Do we know her? When can we meet her? Is she a ninja? Does she know about us?”

Asuma let out a groan.

“I don’t have a—”

“You don’t like to talk about it because you don’t want people to think she only started dating you because you’re the Hokage’s son and you don’t want her to be the target of those accusations?” Chouji asked.

And Asuma almost tripped. Right down the stairs. That would’ve been embarrassing, dying like that.

Sakura gasped again.

“Sensei, this is so noble of you!” she said, deciding that Chouji’s words had to be true. Which…

Which actually were.

He definitely had to find Chouji an area where he could use this incredible ability of his. Before he unpacked all of his issues in front of the team. Which was a terrifying thought.

“But this is also so sad” Hinata said with a low voice. “Your personal life shouldn’t be affected by your father’s status as a Hokage.”

Asuma pinched the bridge of his nose.

There was no way he could deny it anymore.

“Alright… Yes, I have a girlfriend. Yes, I don’t want her to be called a gold-digger. Yes, she’s a ninja. And she definitely knows about you because for a while she just couldn’t stop complaining that while I got you guys as a team, she got some annoying brats.”

“Oh!” Sakura exclaimed. “It’s Ino’s sensei then! She’s so beautiful!”

Asuma chuckled and hoped his ears just felt hot because of the sun.

“Also dangerous, so don’t embarrass or anger her.” Then he added. “Please don’t annoy her with it when you see her. I mean it that she’s dangerous.”

The genin teased him for a while longer and asked more questions, mainly Sakura. But Asuma endured it. There was no malice in it, they were genuinely happy for him.

They eventually stopped asking questions and they continued their journey back to Konoha in peace.

The two girls walked ahead of him. Sakura was showing off her new sword and Hinata was listening to her with great interest. It was good to see how the two of them became good friends in such a short time. He hoped Hinata would trust Sakura and Chouji enough to tell them about her situation.

Speaking of Chouji.

The boy was walking next to him in silence. He’d scolded him yesterday and he hadn’t had the chance to talk to him about it.

“Remember what I told you yesterday, Chouji?” he asked quietly.

Chouji looked up at him, frowning at the volume of his voice.

“Yes, sensei.”

“While it’s true that you shouldn’t underestimate a kunoichi’s strength, there’s also something I’d like you to remember. There are people in this world who have the cruelest intentions with the kunoichi. And they would do anything for that.”

Chouji’s slightly widened in horror. Asuma didn’t know what kind of cruelty he concluded.

“So although I’m asking you to never underestimate their strength, I’m also asking you to look after the girls. We need to be their shields if things turn bad.”

“Of course, sensei” he said, lips pressed together with determination.

Asuma patted Chouji’s shoulder and pocketed his hands. He’d have to have a similar talk with the girls soon now that they would take missions outside the village. He hoped nothing bad would happen to them, but he knew this world too well. It was only a matter of time for things to turn bad. But before that he would make sure that his team was prepared for any situation.

*****

Their walk back to Konoha seemed shorter now that they knew the way. The weather was cooler than the previous day due to the clouds that covered the sun from time to time. A nice breeze moved the leaves on the trees and the soft sound provided a nice background noise to their walking.

Hinata was still afraid of anyone taking her away. She didn’t know if she would ever get over this fear. But the thought that Asuma was there to protect her, from both outside and inside forces, while she still couldn’t do that herself, gave her a safety net she desperately needed for a long time. Yes, Kou was there for her after that kidnap, but he was a Hyuuga. A Hyuuga from the branch family who could easily fall under the control of the main family. Asuma was different. He was the Hokage’s son, a former guard of the daimyou, and someone she could trust without a doubt. She’d never felt this safe in her life.

Sakura talked to her all the way back to Konoha. Her excitement for the sword she was gifted with and the several options she could chose from for her future made Hinata excited too. She was happy for her, especially after the conversation they had the previous day. Sakura had been so sad and doubtful, it was good to see she found something that easily bounced her back to her usual cheerful self. Listening to her made Hinata forget about the world and all of its shadows on her trail.

Still, getting back inside the walls of Konoha eased the nervous tightness of her throat. Here nobody would follow her from the outside. The ANBU stationed on the walls wouldn’t allow any forces to enter.

“We’re taking this scroll to the Hokage Tower” Asuma said on their way there. “We drop this off at the Mission Assignment Room with the Mission Scroll then train in the afternoon.”

“Are we going on a C-Rank mission tomorrow?” Chouji asked.

“I think we should do D-Ranks for the next two days then try an other C after that. Let’s not get overwhelmed right at the beginning.”

“But Shikamaru’s team goes on C-Ranks all the time” Chouji pointed it out. “Won’t they get overwhelmed.”

Hinata saw the way Asuma shot a quick glance around them.

“Kakashi’s team is Kakashi’s team” he said in the end. “They have their reasons.”

They didn’t continue talking about it, but once it was mentioned Hinata couldn’t help but think about it. She’d rarely seen Naruto in the past month. His team usually left before or after her own team arrived to the Hokage Tower and they came back late afternoon or the next day or two. They were always on their way to a village outside of Konoha, and Hinata wondered why it had come to this. She knew the rules like Ino about genin and their missions, and the special permission from the Hokage was strange but if the Hokage allowed it then there was nothing to discuss. Still…

They arrived to the lobby of the Hokage Tower. Ninjas of all ranks were walking around, leaving for their lunch break with bento boxes in their hands, forming smaller and larger groups.

“Oh! Asuma-sensei!”

Hinata froze.

She knew that voice.

Asuma turned towards the owner of the voice and smiled.

“Hey, Tenten. Did you guys return from your mission?”

Tenten walked up to them. She looked a bit tired but the bright and confident smile on her face and the way she held herself made her look like the most capable ninja. Which she was.

Hinata liked Tenten. She was kind and always had a few good words for Hinata when they met.

But her being here made a cold spot to form in Hinata’s chest. It wasn’t Tenten as a person who made her feel like that, but what it also meant.

It meant that Neji was back too.

“We just dropped off our scroll. The others already left, but I wanted to borrow some books from the library.”

Sakura’s eyes lit up.

“Library?”

Tenten laughed.

“Yeah. It’s pretty big, you should check it out.”

Asuma put his hands on Sakura’s and Chouji’s shoulder.

“Guys, this is Tenten. She’s the genin of one of my friends. Tenten, this is Sakura and Chouji. And I think you already met Hinata.”

Hinata dropped her gaze as soon as her teammates turned to look at her. She didn’t want them to ask questions. The less they knew about her family the better it was. Though she didn’t know how long she could keep this up. Eventually they would find out and…

She didn’t want to think about what they would say or do.

“Yeah, we’ve met a few times” Tenten said, leaving it vague. She turned back to Asuma. “Guy-sensei said we’ll try ourselves out on the Chuunin Exams this year. Will you assign your team?”

Asuma shifted on his feet behind Hinata.

“We’ll see about that” he said.

“Are the Exams difficult?” Sakura asked.

“They require a certain level in your training” he answered. “We don’t have to hand in the application form for the next Exam for a month. If you’re up to it, you can try it. There’re two each year. If you can’t do this now, you can always try next time.”

“Whatever you guys decide, we’ll see each other soon, I guess” Tenten said. “Teams go on joint missions once in a while, so who knows? Bye, Asuma-sensei! See you, guys!”

Tenten left with a wave, walking towards the library.

“I hope we can go on some missions with her” Sakura said. “She seems to be a nice person.”

Yes, she was, Hinata thought. And Lee too. She would gladly go on missions with them. But Neji was also in their team. And she would rather die than be humiliated by his cousin in front of her team.

She missed the old Neji. The bright eyed boy who’d always encourage her to speak up and be herself and dream big. He used to be the rock after her mother had died who’d been holding her up, who’d provided her a safe place where she could tell all her fears, where he’d protected her from the darkest thoughts.

Then everything changed after he’d gotten the Seal. And after his father had died.

Neji had changed in a rapid pace and Hinata couldn’t do anything but stand on the sidelines and watch as the once happy boy had turned into a vengeful person. And with that she’d quickly become the target of his glares and spite.

She missed the old Neji. But she also knew there was no way he would be the same boy she’d known ever again.

*****

An other day finished, an other to look forward to.

The night found him on a rooftop again. The roof tiles under him were so warm after the sunlight they had absorbed all day that he didn’t feel the cold of the chilling breeze. Asuma breathed in deeply and let out the smoke with one long exhale.

“You shouldn’t keep smoking. It’s bad for your health.”

Asuma huffed out a laugh with the cigarette in his mouth and looked up.

“A kunai in the gut is also bad for my health, yet I don’t see you asking me to stop being a ninja.”

Ebisu let out a tried groan and sat down.

“Insufferable as always, I see.”

Asuma laughed again.

“You know me.”

They sat on the roof in silence for a while. A few ANBU passed by them in a hurry three roofs away, and Asuma wondered if Mikan was one of them.

“I didn’t have the chance to congratulate for getting a team” Ebisu said. “You’re so busy teaching them that it’s almost impossible to catch you alone.”

“They are great guys” Asuma said. “They have potential to become great ninjas, they just need some encouragement.”

“And some well needed protection.”

Asuma rolled his eyes. Of course Ebisu knew what was going on and of course he wanted to talk about it.

“I still don’t know what I can do apart from being a pawn in my father’s political games. But you’re the expert in that. Maybe you should give me some advice how to proceed with all of it.”

Ebisu glared at him.

“Please don’t involve me in your conflict with your father. It’s enough I have to look after two critically endangered people, I don’t need your baggage too.”

Asuma raised up his palms.

“Alright, alright. I’ll leave you out of my problems. Sorry.”

They stayed silent again, watching the sleeping village.

“Konohamaru is fine, by the way” Ebisu said. “Uzumaki Naruto taught him the _forbidden_ technique of how to make shadow clones, so he’s practicing it every day.” Ebisu shuddered. “I don’t like how much that boy could influence him.”

Asuma stubbed out his cigarette only to light an other one.

“It’s not the boy’s fault that all of that had happened around him. You can’t blame him for that.”

“I’m not blaming him for that” Ebisu protested. “I’m not an idiot. But he’s unpleasant to be around.”

Asuma glanced at Ebisu.

“Are you saying that because he pulled that one very effective technique on you?”

He tried not to laugh out loud when Ebisu almost choked on his own spit.

“Shut up! I don’t even know how you know about it.”

Asuma shrugged.

“Well, despite people saying that I don’t want to have anything to do with my family, I do spend time with my sister and nephew once in a while.”

“I can’t believe you… Did Chiriku embarrass you in front of your team? Are you restoring your inner balance with embarrassing me now?”

Asuma rubbed the back of his neck. Yeah, it wasn’t too nice of him to wreak his embarrassment upon his old teammate.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “Have you heard anything about Shizune lately?”

Ebisu didn’t answer right away. He was probably debating whether to give Asuma the silent treatment or not. He deserved it, after all.

“Not really” he said in the end. “Last time I heard she was somewhere around the north-western border. I don’t know if they left the country or not.”

Asuma let out a long breath and laid down on his back with his arms behind his head. The starts were bright that night.

“Who would’ve thought our team would break up so soon” he lamented. “We were a good team.”

“The circumstances were against us” Ebisu said, then smiled down at him. “But eventually you found your way back to Konoha. Shizune would too. She just needs more time.”

Asuma rolled his cigarette between his lips.

Their team had been one of a kind. The Hokage’s troublemaker son, a boy always following the rules, and a bright eyed girl not to be messed with. Their sensei and his peaceful nature had tamed all three of them, making them one of the best working teams of their generation.

But the night of the Kyuubi’s attack had changed everything.

Asuma had lost his mother, Shizune both of her parents. There’d been several words exchanged between the three of them, and not from the kind variety. Those arguments had poisoned their bond and in the end Asuma and Shizune had left the village to find a new path for themselves they hadn’t had to share with the other.

Looking back, maybe he should’ve been more understanding. The world hadn’t revolved around him, others had suffered great losses too, some greater than him. But try to reason with a teenage boy who already had his own issues…

“Yeah. Time.” He kept staring at the stars, looking for the constellations. “We have plenty of that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -The ‘Hinata braids Sakura’s hair’ scene was one of the first scenes I wanted to write. Breaking down Sakura’s honestly toxic obsession and reminding her what she’d lost with this gentle conversation is a great starting point to build up something new. Giving her a sword was also something I was planning for a long while. I just like weapon wielding Sakura :D
> 
> -I once came across a personal trainer’s channel on YouTube (ATHLEAN-X, if you’re interested) who said rushing through the exercises would only hurt you and your joints and you better do everything slow but precisely because that’s the most effective. He also said that planking doesn’t do shit to your back, because it isn’t your back that works against gravity (it’s your abs actually), so if you want to work on your back muscles you should do a reverse plank. Seriously, this single person had a huge impact on my own little trainings.
> 
> -Tenten cameo! :D
> 
> -Did I just make Asuma and Kurenai NOT teammates? Yes, yes I did ┐(︶▽︶)┌ I don’t even know where the Asuma-Ebisu-Shizune team came from. Sometimes I even surprise myself.
> 
> -I have a confession now that we visited the Fire Temple in this chapter… I’m really honestly afraid to write the Akatsuki members. ESPECIALLY Kisame. Because I don’t know how long in the Naruto fandom you are guys, but back in the days (ohmygod X’D) in my little country of Hungary a true gem was created named ‘Egy Akatsukis Élete’ (‘An Akatsuki’s Life’, you can find the translation here for 28 episodes out of 31 and a movie, yes a movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UeSbaiANU&list=PLF4FCD55FF2470A7B) , and it left a huge impact on me, and I just can’t imagine most of the Akatsuki characters in their canon form anymore. ESPECIALLY Kisame, holy hell, 1AÉ Kisame is something else. Watch it if you haven’t already, this is something you need to experience.


	11. Mission to the Land of Waves – part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To every reader who is still a student or is a teacher: I hope you are all safe and healthy!

“You put my students in danger.” Kakashi yanked then shoved Tazuna against the tree again.

Tazuna trembled, eyes filling with tears of pain and fear.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” he whispered, voice shaking.

“Sensei!” Shikamaru called him. “Naruto’s bleeding.”

Naruto blinked and looked down. There was a long scratch on his left hand, blood slowly flowing out of it. It didn’t look serious. It was just… stinging a bit.

Kakashi turned to look at him. The darkness from his eye was quickly gone and he let go of Tazuna.

“You stay here” he told the man. Tazuna slowly sat down on the ground, head in his hands.

“Naruto” Kakashi said carefully, taking slow steps towards him, like he didn’t want to scare him. Did he think Naruto feared he would hurt him too? Naruto had no idea. “Move as little as possible. Those ninjas were from the Hidden Mist. They probably had some kind of poison on their blades.”

Naruto looked back down at the wound. Was there really… poison in him now? He didn’t feel anything different. Would it kill him? How would they get the poison out of him?

“I’ll open up the wound and remove it.” Kakashi took a kunai out of the holder on his leg. “Stay still.”

“Sensei, we should turn back.”

Naruto looked up at the voice.

Shikamaru was looking at Kakashi, hands curled up into fists by his sides.

“It’s clearly a B-Rank mission” he continued. “We need to return and get a more experienced team for Tazuna-san’s protection. Also, Naruto needs medical attention. If we continue like this, we risk his condition getting worse.”

Was Shikamaru… doubting him?

He didn’t see, but he felt it. The eyes on him. Watching, staring, judging. They thought he was weak. He couldn’t protect himself. He got injured. He was a burden. The weak link of the team. Good for nothing, dead last Naruto…

Kakashi turned towards Shikamaru to say something.

And Naruto took Kakashi’s kunai and stabbed it into his wound.

Everyone gasped out loud.

“Naruto, what are you—!” Kakashi started but stopped.

Naruto didn’t know what kind of expression he had on his face, but if it made a jounin to take a step back, it must’ve been scary.

“I’m not a weakling!” he shouted.

He saw Shikamaru taking a hesitant step towards him.

“I didn’t…” he said but he quickly closed his mouth tight.

Naruto started panting. Everyone was staring at him, eyes wide with shock. He licked his dry lips and swallowed.

“We are not turning back” he continued. “We will help Tazuna-san get back home.”

He felt the blood flowing down his hand, dripping down his fingers, creating a small puddle under him. It was warm. So, so warm.

“His country spent all of its money to build a bridge. He only had enough money to get the help of a rookie genin team. And someone wants to kill him. That bridge…” he paused. “It must be important for his people, but someone doesn’t want it to be built. Maybe they even want to hurt his family!”

He heard Tazuna sobbing somewhere behind Kakashi, but Naruto kept staring at his teacher.

“Our mission is to protect Tazuna-san and help him get back home! And I won’t turn my back on the people who need my help! Uzumaki Naruto will help anyone in need, you better believe it! This is my ninja way that leads me to become the Hokage!”

The silence that followed his words was deafening. Even Tazuna stopped sobbing and now was staring at him with teary eyes.

It was Kakashi who finally started to move. He slowly walked closer to Naruto and crouched down in front of him.

“Remember what I told you?” he asked gently, carefully taking Naruto’s bleeding hand in his. Naruto hissed when the kunai was taken out of his wound. “You are a great person, Naruto. The Will of Fire is burning strong inside of you. I’m sure one day you will become a great Hokage. And I promise you that I’ll be there to see it when it finally happens.”

Naruto blinked for a few times before he dropped his gaze. The puddle of blood was bigger now.

“Good job removing the poison, by the way” Kakashi said. He took the first aid kit out of his bag and started cleaning Naruto’s wound. “But with this act you risked losing too much blood.”

Naruto felt the warmth leaving his cheeks.

“Kakashi-sensei?” he asked, terrified. “Am I going to die?”

Kakashi stared at the wound with a solemn eye for a few more moments before he looked up.

“No, you’re staying with us.” With that he started bandaging the wound, the strange expression still on his face.

“You idiot…”

Naruto looked up just in time to see Shikamaru pulling back his arm to punch him on the shoulder.

“Shikamaru!” Naruto whined. “That hurt!”

“You deserve it!” Shikamaru glared at him with so much anger, Naruto for a moment questioned if it really was Shikamaru. “When the hell did I say that you were weak?! You got injured and poisoned! I was worried about your health! Then you made it worse!”

That made Naruto pause for a moment.

“Nobody was ever worried about my health” he said in his surprise, but then he quickly slapped his uninjured hand on his mouth. But it was too late. Everyone heard it.

Kakashi stopped bandaging his hand for a moment, and Shikamaru’s anger was quickly replaced by shock.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Nobody looked after you? How…?”

Naruto felt himself starting to panic. He said too much. He said way too much. He didn’t want anyone to find out about the way he lived. They would look at him differently and he didn’t want that.

Shikamaru continued to stare at him, mouth parting a few times like he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say.

“There wasn’t anyone to look after you?” he asked in the end. “But wh—?”

“Alright!” Kakashi said louder then needed and tied the bandage. “Rest your hand and everything will be fine in a day.”

“Really?” Naruto asked hopefully, hand slipping down to his chin.

“What?” Shikamaru looked at Kakashi, doubtful. “Sensei, that injury would take at least a week or two to heal. And we don’t know if there are still traces of poison in his blood. I still think we should turn—”

Kakashi stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Shikamaru. Everything will be fine in a day.” He stood up and turned to the enemy ninja. “Now we tie these two up before they wake up. Sasuke? Would you help me?”

Naruto looked around, searching for his other teammate. Sasuke stood not far away from them, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the ground. Naruto remembered how all of a sudden he’d changed. Had he gotten scared? Sasuke? Genius, talented Sasuke?

A months ago he would’ve cheered and bragged about that. He would’ve run around Konoha, telling everyone, mainly Sakura, how Sasuke froze in a fight. He would’ve told her that it was him who protected Tazuna from the enemy ninja and he was ready to take action right away, while Sasuke got scared like a little rabbit.

It didn’t feel right now. Somehow he couldn’t bring himself to brag about that. His teammate got scared. Really scared. He hadn’t seen Sasuke like this, ever. It wasn’t like the Sasuke he knew, confident and arrogant. It seemed like that that Sasuke never existed. And it was confusing to see him like this.

Sasuke nodded at Kakashi’s question then walked to him to help tie up the enemy ninja. Naruto followed him with his eyes then looked at his bandaged hand and flexed it. Kakashi was right, it would probably be fine by the next day. It already hurt less.

“Don’t do anything like this ever again.”

Naruto turned to Shikamaru. He had his hands deep in his pockets, looking at Naruto with a frown.

“Hurting yourself is a shitty way to prove your point.”

Naruto nodded then dropped his gaze to the ground with shame.

*****

He’d gotten carried away.

But this man… He’d risked the lives of his genin with his lie. These children had almost died because this man had held back information about the dangers of this journey, about the Kiri ninja who would come after him as soon as he got closer to the border between Fire and Wave. Naruto had gotten poisoned, Sasuke had almost had a panic attack… No wonder he’d gotten angry.

Now that he was a bit calmer and channeled the last of that into tying up the enemy ninjas as tight as possible, he stepped to the silently crying Tazuna, and looked down at him with a deep frown.

“Now, Tazuna-san” he started, making the man tremble. “Would you kindly tell us what information you were holding back from us? It would be beneficial for both parties, and greatly appreciated.”

Tazuna sniffled a few times then rubbed his face with his palm.

“The kid is right” he said with a low voice. “We spent all of our money to finish the bridge. I came to Konoha to make some errands, but I was too afraid to go home alone. I didn’t have enough money, so I lied that I only wanted protection from bandits and thieves. But believe me” he looked up at Kakashi, “I didn’t expect ninjas from the Mist coming after me. I never wanted the children to get hurt.”

Kakashi searched the man’s face. Civilians were easy to read. They weren’t trained to hide their true thoughts. They were like an open book, everything was written in their eyes.

And Tazuna was telling the truth.

Kakashi let out a sigh and crouched down, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Why would anyone send highly trained missing nin after you?”

Tazuna swallowed hard.

“Because building the bridge means we wouldn’t be dependent on ships.”

“You mean the person who owns the shipping company?” Shikamaru said, stepping next to Kakashi. There were still signs of him being angry, but now he had it all under control. “He is the one who wants you dead? Are you sure?”

“I know it. He threatened me several times in the past, but I always ignored him. Gato has his goons, they’ve hurt the people of the Wave many times, but he never hired anyone before.” Tazuna let out a sigh. “Until now, at least. Gato is a greedy businessman, one of the richest of the world. There’s nothing more important to him than money. And if we don’t use his ships, he won’t get any from us.”

“But hiring missing nin to do his dirty job?” Shikamaru frowned. “Isn’t it a bit extreme?”

Kakashi looked up at him.

“You will soon learn that there are people who would go to the extreme to reach their goal. Even if it means killing someone.”

Shikamaru visibly shivered at the thought. Kakashi let out a sigh. It was the best until the children could live in happy oblivion. Once they left the Academy, the cruelty of the world would fall on them like heavy weights.

Kakashi stood up and looked around him. His team was still a bit shaken by the incident, especially Sasuke who watched their prisoners with maybe a little too much intensity, but they were slowly getting better. The two Mist ninjas were still out cold. Maybe he shouldn’t have dislocated that one’s thoracic vertebra. And break the other’s jaw.

He had not the slightest idea what to do. On one hand Shikamaru was right. This was a B-Rank mission, if not an A. They should turn back and inform the Hokage about the situation and send out a more prepared team for this kind of mission. But on the other hand Naruto was also right. What if Gato would go after Tazuna’s family? They couldn’t risk that.

“Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi looked at Naruto. He wasn’t as pale anymore and he could already use his hand perfectly. It was probably the Fox’s chakra that healed him so quickly.

“What is it, Naruto?”

Naruto shifted on his feet.

“We can’t turn back to the village, Kakashi-sensei” he said. “They would punish Tazuna-san for lying. Shikamaru said last night that it’s a crime. But I don’t want Tazuna-san to be punished. He only wants to help his people.”

Kakashi watched Naruto for a long while then let out a sigh. He would think about the fact that the three genin already figured out what was going on later.

Now he had to deal with this situation.

Kakashi made a few hand seals then placed his palm on the ground.

“Summoning justu!”

Pakkun appeared with a puff of smoke. Kakashi heard Naruto gasp once the smoke cleared up, but he didn't pay attention to the boy’s amazement by the summoning.

“What is it, Kakashi?” Pakkun asked. He sniffed the air, looking at Tazuna, Naruto and then the two tied up ninjas. “What have you gotten yourselves into?”

“Nothing serious” Kakashi lied, but he knew Pakkun could see right through him. “I want you to take these two back to Konoha. Tell the Hokage that we happened to come across the Demon Brothers of the Mist, but there’s nothing to worry about, we’ll continue on with our mission.”

Shikamaru tsked and turned away meanwhile Naruto’s eyes lit up.

Pakkun raised a brow.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe I could ask Tenzou to come after you guys.”

Kakashi shook his head.

“There’s no need for that.” He took a storage scroll out of his vest and opened it next to the Demon Brothers. “We can handle it.”

With a kunai he cut his thumb, made a few hand seals and slapped his bleeding hand on the scroll. The two Kiri ninja disappeared in a smoke.

“What did you do to them?” Naruto asked.

“I locked them inside this scroll.” Kakashi rolled up the scroll and gave it to Pakkun. “Have a safe trip back to Konoha.”

“Take care, Kakashi.” Pakkun took the scroll into his mouth and jumped away, already far from them.

“So” Kakashi started, brushing the blood off his thumb. “Shall we continue?”

*****

He was going to get sick.

He could still smell it… The blood…

It lingered in his nose, making him want to throw up with every breath.

He saw the bodies in front of him.

Unmoving…

Dead…

Bleeding…

Empty eyes staring at him in the pale light of the moon.

Glass marbles in the skull, lifeless but still moving as he walked down the street.

They didn’t move.

But they could jump at him at any moment.

He was scared.

He wanted his mother.

He wanted her to wake him up from this nightmare.

He didn’t like it here.

He wanted to wake up and see the sun and see his mother and—

A shadow passed over him.

He froze and stared up at it.

Red eyes glowed in the dark and it painted the clouds with crimson.

A hand patted his shoulder.

Sasuke almost jumped and his head snapped towards the owner of the hand, ready to defend himself.

Kakashi didn’t look at him. He stared straight ahead, then squeezed his shoulder and pulled his hand away, putting it back inside his pocket.

He didn’t say anything.

Sasuke was glad for that.

He didn’t need anyone’s pity.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since they continued their journey to the Land of Waves. All of them walked in silence, eyes roaming their surroundings. Naruto’s bandaged hand hung beside him, swaying it as he walked, like it didn’t hurt at all. Shikamaru had his hands deep in his pockets, staring ahead, frowning in displeasure.

Sasuke agreed with him. They should’ve turned back.

Damn Naruto’s speech about helping people and not turning their backs on them. They were rookies. Kids. They had no chance against missing nin like those two back there. They were inexperienced, weak, and a bunch of kids. They couldn’t face any enemy like this. He couldn’t…

“Is he…” Tazuna started with a small voice so only Kakashi would hear. But since Sasuke walked next to Kakashi, he could also hear him perfectly. “Is he really an Uzumaki?”

Kakashi didn’t react for a while, like he hadn’t heard the man, but then nodded a little.

Tazuna’s eyes lit up with a mysterious light, glancing back at Naruto walking out of earshot behind them.

“Then it’s a sign from the spirits” he said with wonder. “A blessing of the Eddy.”

Sasuke frowned. What was he talking about? How could Naruto be a blessing?

Kakashi tilted his head a bit towards Tazuna, but his eye was on Sasuke. Sasuke felt himself becoming smaller under the stare.

“I would like you to keep it from him” he said, sending his words to both Tazuna and Sasuke. “It would be better for all of us.”

Tazuna visibly swallowed and nodded quickly, and Sasuke could do nothing else but agree with Kakashi’s request. He dropped his gaze on the ground, wondering what was so special about an idiot like Naruto.

*****

They stopped for the night in the forest again, but they didn’t make a campfire. Kakashi ordered them to sleep and he would guard during the whole night, but once again Naruto couldn’t sleep. He kept staring at his hand, wondering if the injury would really heal or there was still poison in it.

He’d been stupid, he knew it now. Reckless. Shikamaru had been right. Hurting himself even more was not the way to do things. He should take better care of himself. What if the wound would get worse and he would lose his hand? He didn’t want to lose his hand. He couldn’t be a handless Hokage.

Naruto sighed and turned on his back, looking up at the moon peeking out through the leaves.

Why would people be so evil to try and kill a man because he wanted to build a bridge? And why were there ninjas who would do the killing? Why would they accept a job like that? Were they forced? No. The ones who’d attacked them hadn’t been forced. Naruto had seen it in their eyes. They’d wanted to kill them because they’d wanted to do it. But why would they want to kill anyone? Did they like it? What had happened to them to make them like killing?

Naruto didn’t understand it. It seemed some ninjas were like that, and he didn’t like it at all. Mizuki… Mizuki at least had a reason when he’d tried to kill him. The Fox had killed his parents, and now the Fox was inside him.

Naruto froze for a moment.

Something crossed his mind in the darkness of the night that he'd never thought about. A thought that turned his blood ice cold inside his veins.

Was he the Fox…?

Was he really sure he was a child who had a demon sealed inside him? What if he was the demon all along who had been turned into a child with a seal?

Naruto heard his teeth clicking together as he started trembling.

Oh no…

Oh no, no, no…

What if he really was—

There was a touch on his forehead and he fell into a dreamless sleep, his fearful thoughts sinking into the depth of his mind, forgotten for the moment.

*****

They reached the border on the next day. It was around noon, but the mist all around them made it hard to see the sun. Tazuna led them through the forest, avoiding the main road by at least a kilometer.

“That road leads to the port” he explained. “I have a friend waiting for me at the shore. He has a boat. He’ll help us get across.”

There was really a man waiting for them. He had deep lines between his brows, and Naruto wondered if he could smile at all.

“This is Kaji. Kaji, these are the Konoha ninjas.”

Kaji looked at them one by one, frowning at them, especially at Naruto. Naruto pouted and he would’ve liked to stick out his tongue at him, but Shikamaru, like he was reading his thoughts, stopped him with a look.

“Get in the boat” Kaji said. “We have to be careful. I spotted a few of Gato’s men on the bridge.”

As soon as they were all sitting, the man pushed the boat away from the shore and started moving the oar while standing on the end of the boat. Naruto frowned at the engine by the man’s leg.

“Why aren’t you using the engine?” he asked.

“Believe me, you don’t want to be detected entering the Land of Waves without Gato knowing about it” Kaji said.

“The whole country is at his mercy” Tazuna said, hanging his head. “And he always asks for more and more money because he knows we will die without his ships.”

“Not even thirty years ago this country was prospering” Kaji continued. “The Land of Waves used to be the territory of the Land of Whirlpools. Uzushio was a great ninja village, home of the best fuinjutsu masters.”

“Fuinjutsu?” Shikamaru asked with a frown, looking up at them from the water.

“Sealing” Kakashi explained. “A complicated form of jutsu. It requires the best chakra control and great academic knowledge.”

“And a whole ninja village was a master of it? Why haven’t I heard about it?”

“Because Uzushio was destroyed for its talented ninjas.” Kaji looked around, trying to detect anything in the tick mist. “The Leaf and the Eddy were great allies from their formation. They shared their knowledge and helped out each other in need. It was a bond between ninja villages that every other village should envy. But Uzushio was destroyed in the darkest hours of the night. Nobody knows who the enemy was. There were rumors that the other four ninja villages formed a pact for this common goal and they put away their differences for that single night to destroy their greatest threat.”

Naruto felt bile rising in his throat. He had to swallow a few times for his stomach to calm down.

“This is horrible” Naruto said, stomach still spinning. “Why destroy a whole village? What about those who weren’t a ninja? And the children?”

“This is how the villages are. They always tried to destroy their enemies, and will always do that. That’s the world of the ninja.”

“That’s a horrible world” Naruto shook his head. He remembered what he’d been thinking about the previous night, how the two ninjas from the Mist liked killing. “When I become Hokage, I want to change it.”

Sasuke snorted and shook his head, but Naruto ignored him. He had no right to judge him. He wanted to kill someone. That was as bad as the nations killing innocents just because they were afraid of the ninjas of that village. Killing was bad, and nobody could change his mind.

“Change?” Kaji asked. “Change needs time. Several generations grew up in this world, for them this is the norm. A great war every ten or twenty years with blood on everyone’s hands, and they spend the time between those getting prepared for the next great conflict. No matter how young you are, when the battles begin you will be promoted and sent out to fight for your nation. Some of you will die, some of you will be broken for a lifetime, and your children and their children will inherit the ruins and the misery and the promise of a next war. For change you need to sacrifice your whole life to accomplish anything, and your lifetime would only be enough for the foundations. And what guarantees that your successor would be like you, aiming for the same goal, and not lead the nation back into the cycle of war and the illusion of a few years of peace? What guarantees that the other nations would want the same kind of peace like you? The victors prosper from every war, and become the greatest influencers for the following years. Why would they turn their backs to the opportunity to become the leading force of the ninja world for a world where every nation is equal and can live together in peace? None of them want their rivals to prosper. Not even Konoha.”

It was a lot to take in. The ninja world was a confusing place, he had to admit. It wasn’t just one village, but many others where genin like him lived. Did they have the same dream as him? To become a Kage and change the way the ninja nations lived? He hoped so. If they could work together, they could change the world for the better.

But first he needed to become the Hokage.

“I don’t care how hard it would be” he said, curling up his fingers into tight fists. The bandage was tight around his hand, but it didn’t hurt anymore. “I don’t care if I die trying. I decided what I want to be and what I want to do, and I will do anything to reach my goal. You’ll hear one day that Uzumaki Naruto became the Hokage! And I will work every day and night to change this world. You better believe it!”

The man suddenly stopped moving and turned to stare at Naruto with wide eyes. He looked at Tazuna, then at Kakashi, and finally at Naruto again. He blinked a few times then quickly looked ahead.

“I really hope that day would come.” Then he added: “But please, stay quite. We don’t want to be spotted.”

Naruto bit on both of his lips, holding back any sound that might come out of it.

“You said the Land of Waves used to be prospering and that Uzushio and Konoha were allies” Shikamaru said after a while. “Why didn’t Konoha help the land?”

“Because an alliance between ninja villages not necessarily means an alliance between the nations” Kakashi explained. “The Land of Fire never allied with the Land of Whirlpools, so when the nation collapsed the Land of Fire did nothing to help. And Konoha’s economy is not good enough to support itself on its own, let alone an other nation.”

Naruto hung his head.

“Is it because the Land of Fire is like those ninja villages?” he asked. “They don’t want any good for their rivals?”

Kakashi let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead.

“Naruto, politics and diplomacy are difficult things to understand. You need to be aware of each nation’s and village’s history and diplomatic connections to the others. It’s like a spider’s web, each thread representing a different aspect of their relations. Explaining only one thread means nothing. You need to see the whole web to truly understand everything.”

Naruto rubbed his forehead too. He felt like a headache would start soon if he continued to think about this too much.

“I’ll understand it one day” Naruto decided. “I have to know this too if I want to become the Hokage, right?”

He imagined himself wearing the Hokage hat, standing in the middle of a room, surrounded by spider webs. Spiders were okay until they only caught the flies and mosquitoes in his apartment. But he really hated it when they bit him.

He saw the smile in Kakashi’s one visible eye.

“Yeah, you have a lot to learn about if you really want to be the Hokage.”

Naruto smiled, but it was almost immediately gone.

A building appeared out of the mist. It stood in the water on gigantic pillars, like a huge animal’s legs. It was the bridge Tazuna was talking about. It suddenly ended above the water, like it was leading to nothing.

“This is it” Tazuna said, looking up at the bridge with a soft gaze. “My life’s work. The future of our nation. Hopefully, I’ll still be alive to see when it’s completed.”

*****

As Kaji started the engine of the boat, Kakashi put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and leaned down a bit.

“Naruto, I want to ask you something.”

Naruto looked up at him with curiosity.

“What is it, sensei?”

“I want you to not tell anyone your full name from now on.”

Naruto frowned.

“Why?” he asked.

Of course he was confused. He knew basically nothing about his family. But it was important that nobody here knew about his clan. The Uzumaki were only safe in Konoha and the Land of Fire. Anywhere else in the world they would be used or killed. Fortunately Naruto inherited Minato’s blond hair. A red hair like Kushina’s would’ve been difficult to hide.

“Just trust me, okay?” He patted Naruto’s shoulder as he leaned away. Naruto nodded, though he still looked confused.

They continued on their journey in the Land of Waves to Tazuna’s home village. The tension was high in their little group. No wonder, the genin weren’t in their home country anymore. And if Tazuna was right, the whole island was in Gato’s hands. That meant an assassin could attack them at any moment.

And they wouldn’t be chuunin.

Kakashi had to prepare himself to face a jounin level ninja in any moment.

Then Naruto threw a kunai into the bushes.

“Naruto!” Kakashi called out, still stunned. “The kunai is a dangerous weapon to just throw it around!”

But Naruto didn’t pay any attention to him. He looked around, eyes wide and focused, and threw an other kunai. That landed in the bushes too, and, by the sound of it, it hit a tree.

Kakashi frowned at that direction.

Now that he was paying more attention to that direction, he really saw something too.

“Damn it, brat!” Tazuna yelled at him.

Shikamaru stepped next to Naruto.

“The hell were you doing?” he scolded him.

“I thought I saw something!” Naruto snapped.

“I didn’t see anything. Maybe it’s the poison in your bloodstream.”

“I’m not hallucinating!”

Sasuke groaned and rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.”

Kakashi didn’t pay attention to the erupting fight between the two. He walked into the bushes and didn’t have to look for long. A rabbit was lying in the grass, almost scared to death by the kunai above it in the tree.

“Why’s it white?”

Kakashi looked at Shikamaru on his left. For a child he had a serious expression on his face any adult could envy. Also, no wonder he noticed the unusual color of the rabbit. As a Nara he had knowledge of forest animals and their behavior, no matter that his family mainly dealt with the deer.

“No!” Naruto rushed by them to the rabbit. He dropped to his knees and took the animal into his arms. “I’m so sorry, bunny!”

“I was wondering about it too” Kakashi said finally, voice low, taking advantage of Naruto’s loudness.

“This is a snowshoe hare. It’s almost summer, so the fur should be brown.” Shikamaru’s frown deepened more for a moment then his eyes started to widen with realization.

“Act natural” Kakashi warned him and looked at Sasuke too on his other side. “The enemy could be anywhere.”

Maybe he felt the tension of his team, because Naruto became quieter.

Kakashi sniffed the air, but nothing. Tried to feel the chakra around them, still nothing. Maybe they were all hallucinating, or their enemy could hide themselves with ease. The fur of the rabbit was a dead giveaway that someone had raised it indoors. And that someone now used the rabbit for a replacement technique.

But where—

“DUCK!” Kakashi yelled out the order as soon as he heard the faintest sound of the leaves above them.

Everyone reacted fast. They were all on the ground when a large blade flew above them, only stopped by a thick tree. A man landed on the hilt and looked down at them with dark, hard eyes.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he stood up.

Great…

“Well, look who it is.” Kakashi put his hands in his pockets. “Momochi Zabuza, a missing nin from the Hidden Mist.”

He glanced back at his genin.

“Protect Tazuna-san. I’ll handle this.”

He turned back to Zabuza, his eye not leaving him anymore. Behind him he heard Shikamaru quickly taking charge, telling the others what position they should take.

He’d heard many tales about the Demon of the Hidden Mist. A jounin level ninja, former ANBU of Kiri, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, someone who'd tried to assassinate the Mizukage. He was not someone he should take lightly. Zabuza was a cold blooded killer, and he needed to fight with his full strength if he wanted his team to survive this mission.

So he lifted his forehead protector up and opened his left eye.

Obito’s gift came to life.

*****

They stood around Tazuna, a raised kunai in their hands, waiting for Zabuza to attack at any second as the mist around them became ticker. They had to focus. They had to be ready for anything. They had to protect Tazuna.

But his mind was elsewhere.

Kakashi had a Sharingan…

Why did he have a Sharingan?

How come he had a Sharingan?

Only the Uchiha could have that doujutsu…

Was he…?

No, he should’ve known about that.

Then how…?

“Kakashi, the Copy Ninja” Zabuza’s voice was heard, but he couldn’t tell where. The mist carried the deep voice all around them. “It is said you’ve copied a thousand techniques with that Sharingan of yours. Tell me, did you cut it out from a dead Uchiha's skull?”

Sasuke’s hold tightened on his kunai. Zabuza was only taunting Kakashi, but…

Could it be true?

Sasuke trembled.

This feeling… The dread he felt all around the air. The tension, the killing intent. He felt it weighing him down. The trembling of his hands. The tightness of his throat. The cold metal of the kunai in his hands.

Sasuke took a hesitant step back, shoulder bumping into Shikamaru’s.

“Hey, you okay?”

Sasuke couldn’t say a word. His whole body was shaking, it was a miracle the kunai hadn’t fallen from his hand yet, and his throat was tight and dry, every breath he took burnt and scratched it.

He was absolutely not okay.

“Tazuna-san!” Shikamaru started when he didn’t get an answer. “Lean your back against Sasuke. Naruto! Sasuke’s out. You need to keep your eyes on half of our surroundings from now on.”

“Wha—?!” Sasuke felt Naruto’s shoulder pushing against his.

“Don’t turn!” Shikamaru warned him with a stern voice. “Keep watching!”

“Okay!”

They talked. He heard them. But he didn’t understand anything. He didn’t see anything else just…

Just the red eyes in the dark.

Red puddle on the floor.

A lightning.

The clouds were crimson in the pale moon light.

Death.

Death.

Death.

He didn’t want to die.

No.

Not today.

Not like this.

No—

“Sasuke.”

Sasuke blinked.

Kakashi was smiling at him under the mask.

“I won’t let anyone on my team die. I promise.”

Sasuke swallowed.

It sounded like any empty promise in a situation like this. But somehow… It felt more profound. The words had a heavy weight that somehow made him lighter. The meaning behind it, the deep emotions in the seemingly uncaring voice…

It made him believe that they would survive this encounter.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Sasuke turned his head down.

Zabuza was crouching in front of him, eyes boring into his, blade ready to strike.

“Which one of your organs do you need the least?” he asked.

Sasuke’s mouth opened to a silent scream.

He was pushed to the side.

He found himself in the grass a few meters away from Zabuza. The others were also in the grass, staring at the enemy ninja with Kakashi’s kunai in his stomach.

Sasuke was expecting blood coming out of the wound.

But it was water.

Zabuza - was it really him? - turned into water and splashed on the ground. Sasuke stared at the wet grass with wide eyes.

“Sensei, look out!”

An other Zabuza - was it the real one now? - appeared behind Kakashi, swinging his blade, cutting through the jounin…

But, once again, water splashed on the ground. The real Kakashi stepped out of the mist behind Zabuza, and put a kunai to his throat.

“This ends now” he said. “Leave us alone, and I’ll spear your life for now.”

Zabuza chuckled.

“Did you copy my Water Clone Jutsu, Kakashi? I’m impressed. That Sharingan can be very useful. Maybe I’ll cut it out so the Mist would have every doujutsu of the Leaf.”

“I won’t repeat myself, Zabuza.” Kakashi pushed the tip of the kunai lightly into the man’s throat. One more push and it would break the skin. “Leave.”

Zabuza laughed again.

“Leave? Why leave now?”

Out of nowhere, an other Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi.

“To let a copy cat win just like that? No chance.”

Zabuza - was it now really the real one? - swung his blade. Kakashi ducked and the giant sword sunk deep into the ground, but he couldn’t protect himself against the kick. Kakashi flew a few meters and landed right in the water.

“Sensei!” Naruto yelled as Zabuza ran after Kakashi. He was ready to run too, but Shikamaru grabbed his hand.

“We need to protect Tazuna-san!”

“But…!”

Sasuke slowly stood up and looked towards the water.

Kakashi was in a water prison made by Zabuza.

He swallowed hard.

This was the end for them.

*****

This was bad…

This was so bad…

Shikamaru’s eyes moved constantly, focusing on each person around him again and again and again…

Kakashi was held prisoner by the real Zabuza.

A Water Clone Zabuza just emerged from the water in front of them.

Sasuke had a panic attack.

Naruto was frozen in place.

Tazuna couldn’t fight.

This situation was new to him. It was new for all of them. They weren’t even a ninja for two months and they were already face to face with a jounin level ninja like Momochi Zabuza.

He was strong, both in built and strength. His blade was heavy, but he could swing it with ease.

He also had a lot of chakra. He could keep Kakashi in a water prison and summon a water clone at the same time. The clone only had a portion of his chakra, about half of the original, but he couldn’t tell how much that chakra was originally.

They couldn’t use force against him.

They needed to trick him.

But how?

“Look at you” Clone-Zabuza said, stepping out of the water. “A bunch of brats playing ninja. Or do you think you’re a ninja already, just because you wear the symbol of your village on you? Don’t make me laugh. You know nothing about being a ninja.”

He tilted his head left then right, cracking his neck.

“You have to accomplish something first. And when your name is in the Bingo Book, you can call yourself a real ninja.”

“We need to save Kakashi-sensei” Naruto whispered next to Shikamaru. “We have no chance without him.”

“Yes, but how?” Shikamaru asked back with a low voice.

“Run away!” Kakashi yelled at them. “Your mission is to protect the bridge builder! Zabuza's clone won’t be able to follow you much further! Leave until you can!”

Distance…? He could use a Shadow Possession Jutsu and run with the clone so the others won’t have to deal with it.

No, distance is not a good approach. When the clone disappears, the chakra would return to Zabuza and he would be on full power again.

Or not completely full. That water prison needed a lot of chakra to keep it intact and lock away a ninja like Kakashi. That had to be about twenty-five percent of his charka. That left about seventy-five percent of the original chakra behind. The clone took half of that, about thirty-seven and a half percent of chakra, leaving the same amount behind. So in theory…

“Naruto, I have a plan” he said. “I don’t know if it will work, since I don’t know if he can summon more clones right now. But this clone already has half of Zabuza’s chakra. If he summons an other one, that would have half of his current chakra, so it would be half as weak as this one.”

“What do you want me to do?” Naruto asked.

Shikamaru smirked.

“Be your usual annoying self. You’ll know when we move to the next stage of the plan.”

Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke. And with that one glance he wanted Sasuke to understand that for this plan to work, he needed him too. If this didn’t work, they would die anyway. But at least they would go down fighting.

Sasuke swallowed and nodded slightly, turning to look back at Clone-Zabuza.

Good.

“Do you remember how much time I said about my jutsu?” he asked Naruto. When he nodded, he continued: “You have that much time the moment I say now.”

Naruto grinned and hit his right fist into his left palm. He didn’t even flinch despite the injury.

“Leave it to me. I have a plan too.”

Shikamaru nodded.

“Be careful.”

And Naruto started running towards Clone-Zabuza.

“Hah! Are you insane, brat?”

Zabuza pulled his right leg back. Naruto jumped up from the kick from the right side as soon as he got closer, but Zabuza’s grabbed Naruto’s shoulder with his left hand, swung him around and threw him away. Naruto landed on his shoulder with a grunt.

“You’re delusional, brat” Clone-Zabuza said. “Playing a hero would only kill you.”

Naruto stood up. He was panting heavily, but he was mostly unharmed.

“And running away would make me a coward!” he shouted as loud as he could.

“Naruto, stop!” Kakashi yelled at him.

“No!” Naruto shouted back. “The ninja who leaves his teammates in danger to save their own life is a trash! And we’re a team, that means nobody gets left behind!”

That one stunned Kakashi into silence.

Naruto raised his hands to a seal.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!”

About thirty Naruto clones appeared around Clone-Zabuza. He looked at them, laughing.

“Shadow Clones? Isn’t it a little bit too advanced for your age?”

All the Narutos jumped on Clone-Zabuza at the same time. They were quickly dealt with and the real Naruto was thrown away, but the distraction worked.

Shikamaru’s shadow was already on its way.

And it perfectly connected to Clone-Zabuza’s shadow.

Clone-Zabuza noticed something was not right immediately but it was too late then. He couldn’t move the slightest.

“Shadow Possession Jutsu complete.” Shikamaru said and raised his hands above his head, curled up so when Clone-Zabuza was forced to follow his movements, his palms wouldn’t face each other. “Now!”

“Sasuke!”

Naruto took something out of his backpack and threw it to Sasuke. Sasuke easily caught it. He stood stunned only for a moment, then started running towards the water.

“Do you think you can hold me back for long?” Clone-Zabuza asked. “I’m way stronger than you, even if I’m only a clone. As soon as you run out of chakra, I’ll cut you in half.”

Shikamaru felt sweat running down his spine. It’d been only a few seconds, and he was already getting tired. He felt his chakra draining and his focus to keep it from leaking out slipped a few times.

But he had to hold on.

He smirked at Clone-Zabuza, the muscles of his face twitching.

“I don’t expect to hold you for much longer.”

*****

No, no, no, no, no!

This wasn’t supposed to happen like this!

The kids needed to leave right now!

They couldn’t risk their lives!

But no, they stayed, because of the one lesson he claimed to be the most important. To never leave a teammate behind.

Damn it!

He would so punch himself in the face the moment he’d get out of there!

Kakashi watched as Naruto distracted the water clone while Shikamaru locked on to its shadow. Then Naruto passed something to Sasuke and…

Was that a Shadow Shuriken?! How had Naruto gotten his hands on a Shadow Shuriken?!

Kakashi took a deep breath. He couldn’t panic now. He needed to focus. He had to believe in his team. He had to…

Sasuke jumped high in the air and threw the shuriken with perfection. Zabuza followed the top one with his eyes, laughing as he caught it.

“Did you—” he started then noticed the other one. It was aimed at Zabuza’s abdomen, but he simply jumped up so it would pass under him. His hand was still in the water prison, and Kakashi was still inside it.

“So naïve!” Zabuza yelled at the genin. “You think you can beat me with a shuriken trick?”

“Guess again!”

Kakashi looked behind him just in time to see Naruto throwing away a kunai. He quickly glanced back at the shore where Sasuke stood alone with a kunai in his hand and raised it to strike down the water clone as Zabuza’s attention was elsewhere. Shikamaru let go of the clone and Sasuke stabbed it in the back. The clone dissolved into water, splashing on the ground.

Meanwhile Naruto’s kunai flew towards Zabuza. And with his hands occupied, he had no other choice but to jump away.

The kunai still grazed his face as he moved away from the water prison.

And Kakashi was free.

Naruto used a Transformation Jutsu to get behind Zabuza.

Clever.

But Zabuza was not so impressed with the genin’s strategy.

Naruto was still falling towards the water when Zabuza jumped up with the first shuriken in his hand and was about to strike him down.

But not in Kakashi’s watch.

Zabuza would never hurt any of his genin ever again.

Kakashi quickly jumped in the way and blocked the shuriken with his hand. The weapon’s edge slipped off the metal on his glove and it cut into his skin, but his own safety was second to his sutendts’.

“Naruto, get back to the others” he said.

He didn’t have to say more. Naruto started swimming to the shore.

Zanuza huffed.

“I got distracted and broke the jutsu” Zabuza said. “Big deal.”

“You’re wrong” Kakashi said with a low voice. “You didn’t break it. They forced you to.”

That hit the nerve he was aiming for. Zabuza’s full attention was on him now. He would leave the genin and Tazuna alone.

*****

Zabuza was pissed.

He was so, so pissed.

How did these kids dare to step between him and his job?

He just wanted to finish with this, get the money, then get the hell out of here as fast as possible. He was a missing nin for fuck’s sake, he needed to live from something!

But it seemed he would have more trouble with this bunch then he’d initially thought. Starting with the Copy Ninja of Konoha.

He’d heard stories about him, of course. Everyone knew his name back in the Village. Graduating from the Leaf’s Academy at a very young age, being trained by the Yellow Flash himself, getting his hands on a Sharingan, going on to kill many, including a platoon of Mist ninjas.

And that red light in his single eye… That alone was a good enough reason to cut this guy in half.

And he had a bunch of kids with him to protect this guy who angered one of the wealthiest men of the Ninja World. That was a joke.

He’d thought Konoha was better than that. He knew that under the current Hokage and during this almost two decades long peace the Village became meeker. Weaker even. It wasn’t as strong as it had been during the time of the Second Hokage. They sent a bunch of brats on a mission like this. What more proof did the world need?

But no matter how weak they were, the brats were annoying. Starting with that blond one, preaching about teammates and saving one person instead of the many. How stupid was that? The real world was all about sacrifices. If one had to leave behind a teammate, a friend or even a lover, they were left behind for the sake of the mission. That was how this world worked.

And no matter how many idealists had tried and would try to change it, it would never work. As soon as they got the opportunity to rule, the power would immediately corrupt their minds, no matter how strong and kind their hearts used to be.

These thoughts only made him angrier. It opened up some wounds he would deny they existed even to himself.

He would end this fight. Right now.

He raised his hand to make the mist thicker again—

—and the damn Konoha ninja did the same.

In perfect sync with him.

Zabuza’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t copying…

It was like he was—

“Reading your mind?” Kakashi asked.

Zabuza clenched his fists as he lowered it back to his side.

Kakashi did the same.

“Damn you…” Zabuza muttered and made a seal with his hand.

Kakashi did the same.

“You’re just a cheap imitation!” he yelled. “You won’t be able to beat me.”

Kakashi said the same. At the same time as him.

Zabuza quickly continued with the hand seals.

He couldn’t allow this copy cat to confuse him like this! Not even when he was making the same seals as him.

He couldn’t let him get into his mind.

He wouldn’t allow him to confuse him.

To influence his mind.

To change his way of thinking.

To change him into a completely different person he himself wouldn’t recognize.

He was done with the seals. He was ready to wash this fucker away once and for all.

Then he paused for only a moment.

There was a person behind Kakashi.

The stare…

Strong and piercing…

The hair …

He could almost smell it…

He could almost feel it under his fingertips…

If he could just—

Wait…

Was it a genju—

But before he could finish his thought, he was swept away by a vortex.

A vortex similar to the one he’d wanted to let lose.

*****

He could barely stand on his legs.

Clone-Zabuza had been much stronger than he had initially anticipated. He’d miscalculated, but at least it’d worked. Kakashi was freed, and he continued his fight with Zabuza.

Shikamaru felt dizzy. The world was slowly rotating around him. And he knew that because water shouldn’t normally move like that.

“Woa, kid!”

He felt Tazuna catching him by his arm and his feet were swept away under him. He felt he was like floating and the world was a gigantic rush of noise and motion.

No…

Something was not right with that…

Shikamaru blinked, his sight clearing up a bit.

The water was pulling back to its place. He saw Sasuke by the shore, holding on to a tree with one hand, while he was pulling Naruto out of the water. Shikamaru’s feet were on the ground again, and he swayed a little, but he was standing again.

“You okay, kid?” Tazuna asked.

Shikamaru slowly nodded then turned to look around.

Kakashi was up on a tree, crouching on a branch.

Zabuza was leaning against the same tree, a kunai in his arms and legs, putting a stopper into the muscles that moved those limbs.

“What did that Sharingan of yours see?” Zabuza asked, looking up at Kakashi. “Did you see the future? Did you look into the darkness? Did you like what looked back at you?”

Kakashi didn’t answer. He raised a kunai, probably to make the final and fatal hit, when a pair of senbon flew out of nowhere and sunk into Zabuza’s neck. The missing nin’s eyes widened in shock and he fell on the ground.

He wasn’t moving anymore.

“Hey! Who is that?” He heard Naruto’s voice.

Shikamaru’s eyes roamed the foliage until he saw it.

“That’s…” he started. “That’s an ANBU ninja… From the Hidden Mist…”

He was different from the ANBU of Konoha. The cloths were more elegant, and he was wearing a simple porcelain mask.

But the air that surrounded him was as deadly as around any other ANBU Shikamaru had ever met.

And he’d met some. His father tried to keep his work away from their home, but from time to time a chuunin or an ANBU appeared at the door because there was something urgent matter Shikaku had to leave for.

Like on that night.

But this was not the time to think about the mystery surrounding Naruto.

“Thank you for your assistance” the ANBU said. “I’ve been tracking Zabuza for days now.”

Kakashi jumped off the tree and checked Zabuza’s pulse. There had to be none, because Kakashi soon stood up and stepped away from the body.

“It wasn’t my intention to help the Mist to hunt down their missing nin” he said. “But I won’t step between you and your prey.”

The ANBU jumped of the tree and landed next to Zabuza’s body.

“He…” Naruto started as he stepped next to Shikamaru. He was wet from head to toe and a little shaken up, but nothing serious. “He can’t be much older than us, right?”

Shikamaru shook his head. Regarding the height and the pitch of the voice, the ninja was either a woman or a boy.

Naruto took a shaky breath.

“How can someone as old as us kill like it was nothing?”

Shikamaru shook his head again. The world was a cruel and crazy place outside the gates of Konoha.

The ANBU ninja put Zabuza’s body on his shoulder.

“I must get rid of this corpse. It contains many secrets.”

He made a hand seal with one hand and the ninja was gone with a whirl of wind and leaves.

Shikamaru frowned.

“Now then.” Kakashi lowered back the forehead protector on his left eye and put his hands in his pockets. “Let’s continue.”

“Something’s not right.”

Everyone stopped and looked at Shikamaru.

“Shikamaru, wha—” Kakashi started.

But then Sasuke ran to a tree and threw up.

Kakashi was about to rush to check on him, but after a few steps he collapsed.

“Sensei?!” Naruto yelled out in confusion and ran to check Kakashi with Tazuna.

Shikamaru was looking between his unconscious sensei and his sick teammate, and decided he would go to the latter.

The world turned dark before he could even take one step forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Naruto’s fear of him being the Fox is inspired by this amazing post: https://skylar-lei1634.tumblr.com/post/184610018832/you-know-for-the-longest-time-naruto-probably
> 
> \- I’ve seen many versions of where the Land of Waves and Uzushio are compared to the Land of Fire. But I like the idea the best that both are to the east between Fire and Water, so why not combine the two? 
> 
> \- Sorry for that heavy dialogue heavy middle there. I wrote that Kaji monologue in one sitting when I got a spark of inspiration and only made minor edits to it. 
> 
> \- Ohana means family! Taste the fruit of your teachings, Kakashi-sensei.
> 
> \- I didn’t change much in the fight compared to canon. A hint here and there for some future things. The bigger changes will happen in the next Team 7 chapter.
> 
> But first, Team Kurenai coming up next.


	12. Team 10's First C-Rank Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a quick pre-chapter reminder that if you’re old enough and live in the USA, register to vote, check if you are still registered to vote, and actually vote. Unfortunately everything that happens in the US affects the world, even my mini-Hell of a country =_=
> 
> And I’ll try to answer to the comments on the last chapter ^^””

“I still can’t believe it!” Ino said on their way out of the Hokage Tower. “How can they go on C-Rank missions for a month now? How many D-Rank missions did they finish?”

Kurenai debated whether to tell them the reason or not. Fortunately her team didn’t notice the quickly decreasing number of D-Ranks after what Kakashi’s team had done in just the span of a week.

“That’s the whole point of Kakashi’s survival mission” Asuma had said. “That only proves that his team is living up to his standards.”

But Kurenai couldn’t just shrug it off like that. Asuma knew well what problems it could cause for Konoha in the long run. The D-Rank missions may be getting back to normal, but the daimyou’s wife was a whole other level of problems. Politics were a nasty beast. One wrong word and people would find themselves in the middle of a diplomatic conflict.

And it was the Jounin Commanders’s son of all people who had said that one word because Madam Shijimi had called Uzumaki Naruto a ‘thing’ and a ‘demon’.

Kurenai let out a sigh. What a bunch of troublesome kids…

“Get over it, Ino” Kiba said. “There’s no need to anger yourself to an aneurism.”

“But—”

“Enough” Kurenai quickly put an end to it. “Let’s concentrate on our mission. What does a team need to do before going on a mission outside of Konoha? Shino?”

“Pack for at least two more days than they are planned to be away” Shino answered.

“Good. Ino?”

“Study the terrain, plan for different routes in case of a sudden change” she said.

“Excellent. Kiba?”

Kiba stayed silent for a long while until Akamaru barked once.

“Oh yeah! The weather! We should know before we go if it’s going to rain or not.”

Kurenai nodded.

“One more, Kiba.”

Kiba’s eyes widened.

“But I just—”

“That was Akamaru’s answer. Give me yours.”

Kiba pressed his lips together, looking at the ground under his feet as he was thinking.

Kiba wasn’t booksmart like the other two, Kurenai had figured it out early on. He was a quick thinker in sudden situations, yes, but he lacked a certain level of lexical knowledge. He wasn’t stupid or anything, not at all. Kurenai just needed to be patient with him.

Kiba was silent for two whole minutes. Kurenai sent a warning look towards Ino when she was about to say something.

“We uhm…” he started. “We should know what kind of wild animals we might run into?”

Kurenai smiled.

“Good thinking, Kiba.”

Kiba grinned, raising his head a bit with pride. Akamaru let out a happy bark on the top of his head.

“Where we’re going is not far from Konoha” Kurenai continued. “Shirogane is a mining village five hours from here. They’re mining iron there which is used in the production of the weapons we use. Our mission is to take the reports of the last six months back to the main office here in Konoha.”

Ino frowned.

“But we won’t make it in five hours.”

The corner of Kurenai’s mouth curled up.

Kiba let out a groan.

“Great. Just great.”

Kurenai took a map out of her pouch and opened it on the right page. The team gathered around her.

“Shirogane is situated north to Konoha. There’s a river running down from this area, crossing the path between the two villages. It’s surrounded by the forest from this side, and mountains from this side. The elevation is 699 meters.”

“Where’s the catch?” Shino asked.

Kurenai closed the map and put it away.

“This was the one and only time you saw the map.”

An uneasy silence settled on the team.

“Tell me you memorized it” Kiba turned to Ino.

Ino’s eyes were closed. She was frowning, deep lines were forming between her brows and on her forehead. Kurenai paid close attention to every gesture on Ino’s face. She was curious how the girl’s mind worked. Did she have photographic memory? Or was she better at memorizing text?

“Alright” Ino said after a while. “We round the Village to the north until we reach the foot of the Hokage Hill. A road leads up to the river Kurenai-sensei just talked about.”

“And then?” Kiba asked.

“Then we use your nose. Once we cross the river, the only main road leads to the border of the Land of Hot Springs. There are several side roads leading to different settlements, but we can easily get lost. You and Akamaru can show us the way. Human skin lets out a metallic smell when it comes in contact with iron. And since your nose is highly developed, you should smell it from pretty far.”

It was good to see that Ino and Kiba were finally working together after this long month. Ino was getting more patient and ready to hear out his ideas, while Kiba turned to her for guidance more times. Their stubborn energies that had been aimed at each other were now channeled into finishing the mission.

But this was a three-men-team. Which meant all three members had to take part in the planning.

“Shino?” Kurenai turned to him. “Is there anything you want to add?”

Shino pushed up his sunglasses.

“Nothing in particular.”

Kurenai let out a very light breath. There was still a lot of to work to do with Shino.

“We’re leaving in twenty minutes” she said. “Get your backpacks ready.”

*****

Hana was away on a mission.

She’d just left before Kiba got home, and while he knew she wouldn’t be back for a couple of days, there was always a feeling of something heavy in his stomach every time he entered the house on those occasions.

Akamaru was hiding in his jacket when he opened the front door. A quick smell in the air and he knew they were alone.

“Alright, buddy. Coast is clear. Let’s grab everything we need and get out of here.”

His room was nothing special. Well, nothing special in a positive way. It was a mess. He had cloths that should’ve been washed weeks ago on the floor, a pile of cloths on his bed that had been washed weeks ago and should’ve been put away. There was a bunch of dirty plates on his desk, and a few wrappers on the floor he still didn’t find the energy to pick up. He’d planned to clean up a bit several times, it was just… Anytime he’d almost gone to grab a mop or anything, some things just happened and… And his room was still the same if not messier.

He was honestly ashamed. Really. He’d never invited anyone over so they wouldn’t see this mess.

And because of some other things.

Not like there was anyone he could invite over.

Kiba pulled an old backpack from under his bed, patted off the dust, and started looking around for some useable cloths. He had a pack already ready if he decided to leave. And not for just a few days. It was light but it had everything he would need.

He… didn’t like to think about why he had something like that for several reasons.

Anyway, that pack was hidden under a loose floorboard. He kept a pile of used cloths above it so it would hide the smell. He really, really, didn’t want it to be found. He was scared to even think about what would happen in that case.

He dreamed a lot about leaving, but he’d never done anything yet. Where would he go anyway? He didn’t have friends. Hanging out with Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji didn’t mean they were friends. He never really felt like he belonged among them. They’d never included him in anything unless he’d joint on his own. He couldn’t just show up on their doorstep. They wouldn’t let him in.

He needed to be patient and endure for a little bit longer. Soon he would have his own little apartment he could call home. C-Rank missions paid better. Not by much, but still better. And the more money he got, the closer he would get to his goals.

He stiffened when Akamaru let out a scared whine. He leaped and was back in Kiba’s jacket in no time.

Kiba packed a few more things in his backpack in a hurry before he threw it on his back and jumped out the window.

He could still catch the first syllable of his name before he was at a safe distance.

And only _that_ made him feel sick in his stomach.

*****

He watched as Sakura, Chouji and their sensei stood at the Gates, waiting for Hinata to arrive. The more minutes passed, the less relaxed they were. Eventually Sakura volunteered to go and see where Hinata was and left in a hurry.

That team looked after each other. They were calm and caring. If one teammate wasn’t feeling well the other three would be there to comfort them.

Team 7 looked after each other too, but in a completely different way. They were more emotional, in a way. Their emotions would dictate what kind of response they would have, be it negative or positive. And he found that it was more negative, at least that was what the bugs whispered among themselves.

It was strange for him, foreign even, how emotions could push any logic out of the way. He couldn’t imagine himself to be so emotional he wouldn’t think about his actions. That would be out of character, one would say.

Kurenai landed right next to him. She exchanged a quick look with Team 8’s sensei, then turned to Shino.

“Did you pack everything?”

Shino nodded.

Kurenai watched him for a while, then put a hand to her hip.

“You know, you don’t have to follow what the others say” she said. “You can have individual thoughts, different from the others’. A team needs to learn how to make compromises and adjust their ideas.”

“I agree with Ino’s plan” Shino said. “It’s the most logical one.”

Kurenai tilted her head to the left.

“Maybe. But it didn’t include all three of you.”

Shino pushed his glasses higher on his nose.

He didn’t understand why Kurenai insisted so much that he should be part of the planning. Ino’s plan was a sound one. It didn’t need any adjustments or any additions from him.

“Where’s Kiba?” Ino asked, arriving in that moment. “I didn’t see him on my way—”

Kiba ran out of an ally, panting heavily as he stopped next to them.

“Sorry… I…” He took a deep breath and held it in for a second. “I’m here.”

Ino frowned at him.

“You look a little…” She paused to look him over. “Scattered? And what’s up with Akamaru?”

Said dog was hiding inside Kiba’s coat, only his nose was seen.

“Nothing. Can we go now?”

Kurenai nodded but kept an eye on Kiba as they walked out of the Gate. Kiba waved to Chouji who waved back but soon turned back to his sensei.

It took more than half an hour to get around the Village. The trees provided a nice shade as they walked. The weather was starting to get really warm. Insects were buzzing all around them. Soon cicadas would be heard everywhere in Konoha. He used to watch them with Torune, but he hadn’t done that in years.

“So we’re taking this road and—” Ino started but quickly stopped.

A sign was in their way.

“Road work ahead?” She gaped as she turned to Kurenai. “There’s a road work? I didn’t know about it…”

Kurenai just crossed her arms.

“You’ll need to be prepared for anything” she simply stated.

Ino rubbed her forehead, eyes closed.

“There are no other roads” she said after a while. “We need to go through the forest.”

Kiba rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, then get lost, perfect.”

“We won’t get lost!” She took off her backpack and started digging around inside it. Soon she took out a little compass. “We’ll know exactly which direction we’re going.”

Kiba shifted on his feet.

“Still, we don’t know anything about this forest. There can be pits and cracks and any kind of wild animals.”

Ino opened her mouth, probably to argue about it, but Kurenai stepped between them.

“Actually” she took the compass out of Ino’s hand, “I want to see how you can navigate on your own without using any tools that are made for that purpose.”

Ino stood there, hand raised like she still had the compass in it, then dropped it and let out a sigh.

“Yeah, we need to learn how to do things in the worst case scenario, I understand” she said, hanging her head in defeat.

“I have faith in all of you” Kurenai told them. “You just need to be confident in yourselves and each other.”

And with that she was gone in a jump.

They were silent for a long while.

“Great” Kiba muttered under his breath.

Shino looked at the sky. Among the trees they wouldn’t see it many times, so they couldn’t look at the sun for directions. But he could send out a few bugs for scouting.

“Alright” Ino started. “We know that when we’re facing the Hokage Monument, it’s in a north north-west direction. So…” She turned towards the forest. “Shirogane is in that direction, almost exactly to the north of Konoha. If we go in that direction, we can walk in a straight line to the mine.”

“And the river?” Kiba asked. “We don’t know how wide it is.”

“We’ll see it when we get there.” She then turned to Shino. “Is this alright with you?”

Shino nodded.

“Then let’s go” she said and entered the forest, closely followed by Kiba.

Shino didn’t move for a moment. He looked at the wall of Konoha behind him and the trees all around and just then followed his teammates.

*****

It was so hot in the forest.

Which was supposed to be impossible since the shade of the foliage almost didn’t let any sunshine in. But the air was humid and there wasn’t even a breeze. Ino felt like she was in the bathhouse, it only needed the steam and the water. But she didn’t come here to relax after a long day. She was on a mission and it made the experience a hundred times worse.

She was sweaty everywhere and it was getting hard to breath. She counted her steps for a while but the heat fogged her mind and she lost count quickly. She had a hard time concentrating. It was difficult to raise her legs and move forward. She almost tripped several times in the past hour or so.

And they still didn’t reach the river.

“Maybe we should take a break” Kiba suggested. He took off his coat not long ago, almost dragging it behind him. His shirt was soaked with sweat, sticking to his back, and she could only imagine how she looked like. Akamaru was following him, tongue hanging out as he panted.

And it was still May for fuck’s sake…

“No” Ino said. “We’re almost at the river…”

And then she tripped and found herself on her knees in the dirt.

“Okay.” She shifted into a sitting position, marking the direction they needed to go with a stick. “We take a break.”

She had no idea if it was a good decision to rest for a bit or not. The air around her pushed her deep into the ground, she would maybe even see her contour in the dirt when she stood up.

When she stood up.

If she stood up.

Ino leaned into her palms, taking a few deep breaths.

She needed to think.

To come up with something.

But it was too damn hot…

“Shino, why don’t you take off that coat” Kiba asked. He had a hand on Akamaru’s head, brushing it gently. Poor little dog was sprawled out on his stomach, huffing rapidly. Ino didn’t want to experience how hot he had to feel under all that fur.

“I’m fine” Shino said, but he didn’t sound like he was.

“Shino, I’m about to spontaneously combust just looking at that coat” Ino said. “And I’m positive you’re not fine. At all.”

Shino stood there for a long moment before he finally took off the coat. Just like with his eyes, his skin looked normal too. Radiant white compared to his hands and his face, but normal like theirs.

She’d wondered many times in the past month if this was an Aburame thing. To cover themselves as much as possible. Like they were hiding themselves from the rest of the world. Apart from Shino, Ino hadn’t really met any Aburames on the streets of Konoha, so maybe they isolated themselves in their compound, and when they decided to come out they wore these cloths and the sunglasses.

But the sunglasses had a very good purpose she’d come to realize. Shino’s eyes were extremely sensitive to sunlight. He could see perfectly in the dark, but he needed the protection of the sunglasses during the day. Was it the case with only Shino, or the other members of the Aburame clan were like that too?

“We should go” Ino said after taking a few sips from her water bottle. “At this rate we won’t reach Shirogane till sunset.”

“Would it be that bad?” Kiba asked. “It wouldn’t be that hot in the evening.”

Ino rubbed the bridge of her nose. They didn’t have to reach the mining village on a set time. There was really no reason to rush it, they could take their time.

But she didn’t like the thought of being defeated by a simple heat. She was better than that. She should be able to endure it.

But the heat and the humidity was draining them rapidly. By the time they reached the river they wouldn’t have the energy to cross it. And Kiba had been right, they didn’t know how wide the river was. If it was too wide, they wouldn’t make it to the other side like this.

But it was dangerous to cross the forest at night. And they would have to wait till morning to cross the river.

But it was too damn hot and she couldn’t stand up. She was stuck to the ground by all the sweat.

“Okay…” she said in the end. “We rest.”

The three of them ended up sprawled out on the ground like Akamaru. Time was dragging on and after a while Ino couldn’t tell if it was before or after noon.

“What was up with you this morning?” Ino asked all of a sudden.

She didn’t need to look to know how tense Kiba became after the question.

“Nothing.”

“You sure?” she insisted. “You looked pale and Akamaru wouldn’t act like that if he wasn’t scared.”

“I said it was nothing.”

“Then why—”

“Ino!”

Ino looked his way. Kiba was sitting, looking… terrified? She quickly propped herself up on her elbows, tiredness completely forgotten.

Kiba looked into her eyes for a long while before he turned away.

“Just… drop it. Please.”

Now that made Ino curious and worried. She hadn’t seen Kiba acting like that before. Well, not in the last couple of weeks since they became teammates. She’d never paid any attention to him before that. He’d always been the loud troublemaker of the class, even worse than Naruto, and she’d never wanted to be associated with him.

But they were teammates. One got hurt, all got hurt. One died, all died. They shared the pain and the success. If there was something that terrified Kiba like this, it concerned the whole team.

But she knew she couldn’t force the answers out of Kiba. She wouldn’t like that either in his place.

So with that in her mind she sat up and moved closer to Kiba, ignoring the wet spot shaped like her body on the ground and the dirt that was like mud covering her skin. She stopped about a meter away from him, leaning a little to the left to look into his eyes.

“You know you can tell us anything, right?” she said. “We’re a team. We can work things out together.”

Kiba bit his lips before he turned to look at her.

“There are things you just can’t work out.”

Before Ino could say anything Shino sat up too. He held up his index finger and a bug landed on it.

“We’re off direction” he said.

Ino jerked her head towards Shino.

“We what now?”

“I sent out a bug a few minutes ago. It just returned. We’re off direction.”

Ino had to close her eyes and take a deep breath before she said anything.

“You could’ve told us you would use your bugs to scout.”

Shino shrugged and watched as the bug just… sunk back into his skin.

Ino shuddered.

“You didn’t ask.”

She let out a long sigh.

“Shino, you don’t have to wait for any of us to ask you. If you come up with something, just say it.”

Shino shifted in his seat, not looking their way.

“I don’t know how.”

Ino frowned.

“What do you mean how?”

“I… don’t know when to talk.” Shino’s voice was getting lower with each word. “I’m not good at this…”

Silence settled on them. He hadn’t said much, but his words were a weight on all of them.

She should’ve realized Shino was struggling. She knew how silent he had been in class all the time. He’d never raised his hand to answer a question, the teacher had had to address him first. Being stuck with two loud and talkative teammates like Ino and Kiba – who also argued a lot – had to be difficult for him.

“I…” Shino started all of a sudden. Ino didn’t expect him to say anything else at all. “I’m not used to talking a lot. We only talk at home when we need to, and insects can’t speak.”

He turned his hand, palm facing up, and a few bugs appeared, moving around in his hand.

“I have a cousin. My father adopted him after his father died. Torune. He was the one who talked to me the most. I was just getting used to it, but he joint a special branch of the ANBU and I haven’t seen him in years.”

She heard Kiba shifting.

“It… had to be rough…” he said. “I can’t imagine what I would feel like if my sister suddenly left and never came back.”

Ino couldn’t relate to him. She’d never lost anyone from her family she’d known for years. Her experience was… different from Shino’s. Could she even call it an experience? Could it really be described as loss when she didn’t remember the person that wasn’t there for her anymore?

She shifted in her seat. This conversation was getting to a territory she was really uncomfortable with.

“I’m getting used to it” Shino said, still looking at the bugs in his palm. “We should correct our direction.”

Ino let out a groan. She was too tired to do anything but she still let Kiba pull her up.

“How far are we from the river?” she asked.

“About an hour away in that direction” Shino said and he pointed at the direction they came from.

Ino was about to walk to that direction when she paused.

Wait…

“But we just came from that way” she said. “Konoha is in that way. How did we made a turn like that without noticing?”

Her mind was too foggy to let her think. Something was wrong with all of that. And the heat just rose with every thought she made and—

Oh for fuck’s sake…

“I can’t believe it…” she muttered under her breath. She grabbed a protesting Kiba by the wrist and pulled him towards Shino. She grabbed his wrist too and concentrated on their chakra circulation. “Kai!”

The forest flickered around her and the sudden cold air she breathed in made her shudder.

“What the hell…?” Kiba pressed his free palm on his forehead, looking around with slightly widened eyes. “What happened?”

“A genjutsu” Ino said, glad that her mind finally cleared up. She leaned down to help Akamaru get out of the genjutsu too. “I knew something was not right. The weather we just experienced is common in jungles, not in forests of the Land of Fire.”

“Okay, but why would Kurenai-sensei use a genjutsu on us again?”

“She wanted to teach us a lesson” Ino explained. “The lesson that all three of us need to participate in planning. We need to speak up and we need to listen to each other. That’s how our team would work.”

Kiba let out a groan.

“But why does it always have to be a genjutsu?”

“Why? Because Kurenai-sensei is…”

“A master of genjutsu, I know” Kiba cut in before Shino could finish. “Okay, let’s get to that river before we fall into an other illusion. Show the way, Shino!”

*****

They reached the river in about half an hour which was a laughingly short time compared to how much they’d wandered in that damn genjutsu forest. The river wasn’t that wide, but wide enough so they couldn’t just cross without the help of something. A bridge or a boat or anything else.

Akamaru ran to the water once he saw it and started drinking. Kiba also ran there to wash his face and hair a bit. He let out a relieved sigh once he felt his head cooling down.

“So?” he asked. “How do we cross it?”

Ino took a glance around them.

“We just started learning how to stand on water” she said. “We can’t cross it on foot yet.”

“We could find a bridge” Shino suggested. He was again in his coat that hid his face up to his nose. “There should be others than the one we planned to cross.”

Ino closed her eyes, frowning as she did. Kiba guessed she recalled the map.

“The next bridge is too far away” she said in the end, opening her eyes, glancing up at the sky. “We wasted too much time in the genjutsu. The sun will be setting soon. We won’t reach the bridge before nightfall so we need to cross the river here.”

“How?”

Ino looked behind them.

“Well, since we have some trees around us, we could build a raft.”

Kiba had to check if there was something stuck in his ears because he just couldn’t have heard that.

“Are you serious?”

Ino frowned at him.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You asked me how to cross the river and I just gave you an answer. What is so hard to understand about it?”

“Do you even know how hard it is to build a raft?”

“It’s not hard! You need wood and ropes. That’s it.”

“We don’t have ropes!”

Ino threw her bag off her back and pulled some ropes out of it.

“Yes, we do!”

“Why do you even have ropes with you?!”

“Because I came prepared!” Ino came closer to him, shaking the ropes in front of her, almost hitting him in the face. “Don’t you remember what we discussed before the mission? We should be prepared for two extra days than the planned length of the mission. That means we must have ropes!”

Kiba glared at Ino. This close he could see the imperfections on her face. She had a light and thin skin. Her veins were clearly seen running all around under it, especially on her eyelids. Her lashes were blonde, so light they were nearly white, that made her blue eyes almost pop out with all the light colors around it. She looked almost sickly with her paleness, dotted with the lightest freckles around her nose.

He let out a frustrated sigh.

“Alright. How many trees do you need?”

Ino blinked at him, her previous anger vanishing in a moment.

“What?”

“How many trees do you need for this raft?” he repeated.

Ino looked around, still a bit confused.

“Five?” she said after a while.

Kiba nodded and stepped in front of a tree that had four other trees behind it.

Akamaru barked once and let out a huff behind him. Kiba laughed at that.

“No, Akamaru” he said. “I can do this alone.” Kiba made a seal with his hands. “Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: All-Fours Jutsu.”

He felt chakra seeping out of his skin, coating his body. He lowered himself, hands touching the ground, legs stretching out behind him. His claws grew, digging into the ground. He was ready to jump in any moment.

“You might want to take a few steps back” he said and he soon heard his teammates backing away from him.

His eyes were on his target. If everything would go according to plan, he could knock out all five trees in one attack.

Kiba bent his knees and jumped.

“Tunneling Fang!”

He swung his arms and he began rotating with a high speed.

Hana had taught him this clan technique when he was six. He remembered hitting his head all the time when he had miscalculated the direction he would go. But Hana had been patient with him. A trait she hadn’t inherited from their mother.

He needed two years to perfect this technique. He didn’t use it that much, there hadn’t been really an opportunity to do so. But it would be perfect to knock down a few trees.

The first tree came down easy. As soon as his claws cut into it, it fell to the side like it was a stick. The next three followed it soon, but the fifth one needed an extra push. Kiba had lost his momentum with the previous four trees so the last one needed one more slash before it landed next to the others.

Coming out of the rotation he needed a few seconds to get through the dizziness. It was better than him lying on the ground for half an hour when he had been learning this technique.

Kiba cracked his shoulders and turned around. The five trees were ready to be used for the raft and his teammates were standing frozen on the other side, eyes wide and lips parted.

“Are these trees good enough or you need some more?” he asked, grinning.

Ino raised her hand with a hatchet in it.

“I was about to suggest we could use this to cut some down, but this was certainly a more efficient way to do it” she said.

Kiba eyed the hatchet but he decided against asking where the hell she had been hiding that in her backpack. He didn’t what that to get too close to his face.

Kiba and Ino cut off everything they didn’t need and Shino tied the tree trunks together with the ropes. It took them about an hour to be finally done, but once they were ready Kiba felt satisfaction filling him. They built a raft on their own, after all.

“Alright!” Ino put her hands on her hips, looking down at their handiwork. “I think we can float it now.”

“Get on then” Kiba said. “I’ll propel us across.”

“What?!” Ino snapped her head towards him. “You can’t do that on your own!”

“Yes, I can” he argued.

“No, you can’t!” she argued back.

“How about…”

Kiba and Ino turned to Shino. They still had some thin but long rope which he was holding now, looking at it.

“This rope is pretty enduring” he said after a while. “My insects can take one end to the other side and tie it to a tree. Then we can pull ourselves across the river.”

Kiba looked across the river.

“Will it be long enough?”

Shino took off his backpack and…

“Why the hell do you both have ropes?!”

“We came prepared, dumbass!” Ino told him and tied the two ropes together.

Kiba looked up at the sky then down at Akamaru.

“Can you believe that?”

Akamaru let out a small whine, looking at him with the kind of insight Kiba never really liked. Because they both knew why he wasn’t as prepared for this mission as he was supposed to be. Because his backpack used to be Hana’s since he almost didn’t own anything that was just his. Because the money he got from his previous finished missions was hidden away so he could buy his own apartment once he had enough. He couldn’t use that now for things like ropes and hatchets.

Kiba watched Ino and Shino working on the ropes, figuring out how the bugs should tie it on the other side.

Ino had said that he could tell them anything but…

They probably had their own problems. He didn’t want to burden them with his.

*****

Getting across the river went according to plan. The three of them had enough strength to pull themselves to the other side. The river was slow so they didn’t need to fight against the current. His insects also tied the rope perfectly, it held out until they got there.

“So?” Kiba asked once they gathered the ropes and pulled the raft into the shade of the trees. They decided to keep it if they had to use it on their way back to Konoha. “Where do we go now?”

“You can’t smell the metal yet?” she asked back.

“I think we’re still too far away from the mines” Kiba said. “Maybe we crossed the river farther from our destination then we were supposed to.”

Ino looked up at the sky. She was probably figuring out what time it was.

“The sun is setting soon” she said in the end. “We probably walked too far to the north in the forest.” She then turned to Shino. “Can you send out a few bugs to check where we are?”

Shino lifted his hand. A few insects crawled out from under his coat and flew away.

“What do you think?” Kiba started. “Where’s Kurenai-sensei?”

“She’s probably around here following us like she always does” Ino said, sitting down under a tree.

Kurenai usually left them alone during missions. She wanted them to figure out the strategy on their own and once they finished with it she would tell them what they did right and what needed more improvements. This kind of teaching helped them to be more independent and in a way forced them to work together. She’d probably learnt that from Shibi as a genin. He usually let Shino figure things out on his own at home too.

“Then she can completely hide her scent because I can’t smell her” Kiba said, eyes on the trees on the other side of the river.

“Maybe it’s a genjutsu too” Ino said. “A genjustu is not limited to your eyes. It can affect any of your senses. A sound can get into your ears, a smell into your nose, then it goes straight to your brain and do whatever the genjutsu user pleases.”

Kiba crossed his arms.

“Maybe. But I have a feeling we’re alone.”

“Kurenai-sensei wouldn’t leave us on our own” Ino argued.

“Wanna bet?” Kiba asked. “A free meal at any restaurant for the winner and the loser pays.”

Ino let out a laugh.

“Don’t be silly. Kurenai-sensei is here watching us.”

“I say she’s already at the mining village waiting for us.”

Ino thought about it for a while then extended her hand.

“Deal.”

The two shook hands.

Shino had his eyes on the trees the whole time, waiting for his insects to return.

“Both” he said.

“What do you mean by both?” Kiba asked.

“Kurenai-sensei is waiting for us in the village, but she’s also following us.”

“She can’t do both” Ino said.

Shino shrugged.

The insects returned a few minutes later. Shino held up his palm, listening to the small creatures.

“We’re just a bit farther to the north” he said. “We can reach the village in two hours.”

“Alright then” Ino stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Her shoulders popped as she did that. “Let’s go and see which one of us gets the free meal.”

Their walk through the forest was much better now. The air was cool under the shade of the trees. Shino could hear several insects buzzing around or moving in the bushes. He wanted to take a look at them, but he knew his teammates wouldn’t appreciate the delay. They were all tired from their experience in the genjutsu and probably wanted to finish this mission as soon as possible.

Shino didn’t mind taking his time with anything. He never rushed anywhere. Slowing down meant he could think through everything. The slower he was, the fewer mistakes he made. But he also needed to understand that not everyone was like him. And sometimes being slow wasn’t the right approach. He still had a lot to adjust to in this team and the past month wasn’t really enough for that.

But they still had a lot of time ahead of them. They were still genin who were just let out of the Academy. They were still learning.

“Oh!” Kiba spoke up about an hour later, his nostrils moving. “I can smell the metal.”

Akamaru barked on top of his head, tail waggling.

Kiba took the lead and Shino and Ino followed him. It was already dark, the sun set about half an hour ago. Ino held a small flashlight in front of them, lighting up the path for them. They reached the edge of the forest in less than an hour and soon found themselves in the mining village.

There were several carts packed with what was probably newly mined iron. Workers were busy around the carts even at this late hour, exchanging papers, checking the cargo, tending to the horses.

And Kurenai was standing there, waiting for them.

“Hah!” Kiba let out a yell. “I told you! Get ready Ino, because I’ll choose the fanciest restaurant you can find in Konoha!”

Ino gaped for a few seconds but before she could say anything an other Kurenai stepped out of the forest.

“Wha—” Kiba choked out and joined Ino with the gaping.

Kurenai, the one that walked out of the forest, made a hand seal and turned into petals that were carried away by the wind.

“I think Shino won the bet” the real Kurenai said, smirking at them.

Kiba pointed at the direction where the petals used to be.

“But… What was that?”

“That was a mirage” Kurenai explained. “It kept an eye on you guys and would’ve alerted me if you got into any danger.”

Ino narrowed her eyes as she looked at their sensei.

“Kurenai-sensei” she started. “How did you get here before us?”

Kurenai’s smirk grew.

“Apart from being faster than you? I used the road.”

“But the sign! The road work!”

“You mean that ten meters section of the road where those trees fell? I got round it then returned to the road. I never said you couldn’t get past it. But I appreciate the three of you to go on this training journey on your own. I added some genjutsu into it so it would be more exciting.”

Shino could see the exact moment when something snapped in Kiba.

“Damn it, Ino! We went through all that trouble for nothing!”

Ino cleared her throat.

“Well, we did some team building exercises if you think about it.”

Kiba closed his eyes then shook his head and turned away.

“Sensei, I can’t. Can we go to sleep now? I’m tired.”

“I booked two rooms in the inn” Kurenai said, pointing at a building behind her. “We’re meeting our client in the morning.”

He walked ahead, muttering under his breath, and Ino followed him. Shino started walking too and as he did Kurenai appeared on his side.

“I’m glad you spoke up” she said. “I know the situation is still knew for you, but you can trust them.”

Shino nodded.

“I don’t think the innkeeper would just let Kiba walk into a room.”

Kurenai just smiled at that as they followed the others.

*****

She let her team sleep in the next day. They’d honestly done great the other day, strengthening the bond between them and working together for a common goal. Ino had once again demonstrated that she was a caring person under that harsh bossy attitude – now she only had to get her out of the habit of overthinking everything, – and Kiba was more willing to go along with her suggestions now that they knew each other better.

But she was the proudest of Shino’s progress. He was finally opening up to his teammates, something she doubted he would ever do. And he spoke up when he had an other opinion, more actively taking part in planning.

Kurenai’s initial doubts about this team were now a fleeting thought. Her patience and their willingness to accept each other were finally bearing their fruit. Soon she should start thinking about whether they were ready to take the Chuunin Exam.

She would be honestly surprised if they could make it on their first try. Not because she doubted their skills, no. It was not uncommon that rookie genin tried themselves out on the Exam. But there were other genin with more experience, who would be more ruthless to pass each test. The older they were and the more they had failed in the past, the more desperate they would be to finally get their promotion. But the more time they failed, the less likely they would ever be a chuunin, and a younger and more talented genin would always take their spot.

She’d seen several genin around their mid-twenties who cracked under the pressure of the expectations and pressure of their families, genin in their thirties who had soured and became an unpleasant person to be around. Being unable to reach a childhood dream for decades can change a person to the worst.

But she didn’t believe this would be the case with her team. They were talented. And with the right amount of training they would pass if not the first than their second Chuunin Exam, she would bet money on that even if she wasn’t a gambler.

Soon her genin appeared in various stages of awakening:

Shino looked as stoic as usual, but by the way he was frowning Kurenai guessed he had a mild headache. Ino was well rested and brought the smell of a flowery field with her. Kiba had dark circles under his eyes. Akamaru was sleeping on his disheveled head.

“Let’s get the reports and head back to Konoha” she said after they head a quick breakfast. “We’ll only go on a D-Rank mission tomorrow.”

“Only a D-Rank” Kiba muttered under his breath. “The easiest D-Rank mission would take us a whole day at least.”

Kurenai fought back a smile. Her team was getting to know her too well.

Once they told who they were, they were led to the office of the owner of the mine. Fukaru was the most typical businessmen Kurenai had ever seen. His cloths were better than the other office workers’ around him, he had photos of him posing with other important people behind his desk, and the fanciest furniture that mentally made Kurenai gag. Disgusting.

But they weren’t here to judge the client. Once they left the mining village they’d probably never return. They’d forget about him in a week.

“Welcome!” Fukaru said standing up from his desk, revealing his belly. An overweight businessman. The worst of his kind. “You must be the ninja from Konoha.”

Kurenai slightly raised a brow.

“I guess we are” she said.

“Excellent, excellent!” The man rounded the desk and walked to a safe built into the wall. He took a flat box out of it then handed it to Kurenai. “This is the package you need to deliver to our office in Konoha.”

Kurenai weighted the box in her hands. It was heavier than she expected.

“This seems to be more than six-months of reports” she noted.

“Oh, there are some extra papers in it. Contracts and such that weren’t sent to the main office yet.”

Kurenai nodded and put away the package in her backpack. She wasn’t in the position to ask further about it and honestly she didn’t really care.

“That was all we needed” she said. “We won’t borrow more of your time.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

The man closed the door behind them as they left. Everything went smoothly. They would be back in Konoha in the afternoon and finish their first C-Rank mission.

But when they reached the edge of the forest was when Kiba spoke up.

“Sensei.”

Kurenai stopped immediately and turned to look at her genin. Kiba’s voice was uncharacteristically low and tense. The other two genin stopped too, frowning at them.

“What is it, Kiba?”

Kiba shifted on his feet, looking back at the village over his shoulder. Just like Kiba, Akamaru was also acting unusual. He growled and bared his teeth when he looked the way Kiba did.

“That man was lying. I could smell it on him.”

There were many things Kurenai had learnt to never doubt. And an Inuzuka’s nose was one of those things.

She took a quick look around them then motioned for her team to follow her. They continued their way down the road for a while then Kurenai led them among the trees. Once she found a spot that was perfectly hidden she casted a small genjutsu around them for some safety measures then took the package out of her backpack.

“Kurenai-sensei!” Ino’s eyes widened when she saw what she was about to do. “You can’t open it! The law forbids it!”

“If it’s really just the reports and the contracts, then we’ll go to the Hokage first and tell him what happened. Then he would write an apology letter to the addressee for the damage the package had gotten during the delivery. But” she looked into Ino’s eyes, “if there’s evidence that the safety of Konoha and the Land of Fire is in danger and you were the last person who could stop it from happening, would you be able to sleep peacefully at night?”

Ino chewed on her lower lip and looked at the package like it was the most dangerous thing in the whole world. And maybe it was. That was what she needed to find out.

“We are soldiers of Konoha” she said as she turned back to the package. “And the safety of Konoha comes before anything else.”

The package wasn’t protected by anything. There wasn’t even a seal that would be triggered if not the right person opened it, which was a mistake she was glad for. She tore the side of the box with one swift motion and pulled out everything that was inside.

At first glance it wasn’t much. The reports were there, bound neatly and professionally. Kurenai handed that one to Shino, then looked through the other papers.

She let out a long breath.

“Remember. Never trust businessmen. Especially wealthy weapons manufacturers during a peaceful period.”

The three genin quickly gathered around her, looking over her shoulder at the papers.

“That’s not a village in the Land of Fire” Ino pointed at one of the papers.

“It isn’t” Kurenai agreed. “That’s in the Land of Sound, formerly known as the Land of Rice Fields.”

“Why would a manufactory in the Land of Fire make a deal outside of the country?” Kiba asked.

Kurenai looked through the other papers. She hadn’t heard much about the Land of Sound after its renaming. And especially not about the Hidden Sound Village.

“What do we do now, sensei?” Ino asked.

Kurenai put the papers back inside the box.

“We are not authorized to take action here. The only thing we can do is return to Konoha and inform the Hokage. It’s his decision what kind of action he wants to take.”

The Hidden Sound… Not only the main five nations had a Hidden Village, that was true. And the smaller ones usually made deals with the five main ones, that was also true. But for a previously nonexistent village to have a deal like this with a main nation? Something was definitely not right about it.

Because the deal was about more than five thousand weapons that after manufacturing would be sent straight to the Land of Sound. These weapons would be separate from the ones going to Konoha, and it wouldn’t be checked on the border. There were contracts about both of those, one with the manufacturer and an other with the border control.

Kurenai had a hunch that the Hidden Sound was planning something. But she couldn’t be sure until the Hokage said anything about it.

*****

Ino had never been in the Hokage’s office.

Getting in there took a whole hour of arrangements and requests. The main desk chuunin sent them to the Mission Assignment Room but Kurenai insisted that they needed to speak to the Hokage in person. A jounin called Raidou then told them that the Hokage was on an important meeting with the Village Council and they had to wait for him at the main desk.

Ino let out a long sigh. She was too tired for all of this waiting. She found herself more than once almost falling asleep on Kiba’s or Shino’s shoulder. She probably fell asleep because she didn’t notice when Akamaru started napping on her lap. But their waiting was finally over when Raidou reappeared to walk them to the Hokage’s office.

The office was an oval shaped room. The desk was facing the door and had a whole wall of windows looking down at Konoha. To the left of the door were the photos of the previous Hokage on the wall, and there were several shelves to the right.

“Lord Hokage” Kurenai greeted the Third.

The Hokage turned away from the window, smiling at them.

“Kurenai. How was your team’s first C-Rank mission?”

Kurenai stepped forward and put the opened package on the Hokage’s desk.

“Our mission was to deliver this package back to the mining company’s main office in Konoha. During our talk with Fukaru, Kiba noticed that the man was lying about something. With taking the full responsibility of opening the package on myself, I read through the contracts inside it. I found that the mining company has a deal about five thousand weapons to be delivered to the Hidden Sound Village.”

Ino watched closely the Hokage’s reaction. Would he be horrified to find out what was going on outside of Konoha? That a company the Village got their weapons from had made a deal with an other Village? Would he send a troop to investigate the situation?

The Hokage read through the papers with no hurry. He brushed his beard a few times but there was nothing that indicated what he was thinking at the moment. And once he finished with the last paper he looked up at them.

“We received a request from the Hidden Sound Village this morning” he said. “They would like to participate in the next Chuunin Exams.”

Ino saw Kurenai’s expression darkening.

“So they’re buying all these weapons to take part in the Chuunin Exams?” Kurenai asked.

“Exactly.” The Hokage put the papers back inside the box. “Your genin may go, but I would like you to wait for the apology letter I need to write now. The damage fine would be taken from your payment.”

Ino stepped forward. The Hokage’s dismissing attitude was rubbing her the wrong way and she just couldn’t stand there in silence.

“But Kiba sensed that the man was lying about something! Shouldn’t someone look into this whole business?”

“Ino, enough” Kurenai warned her.

“No! What if what you said was true and Konoha was in danger? What if we stand right between the safety of our home and some unknown menace? Would you really endanger the lives in Konoha by not doing anything or would you send out a troop and make sure there was nothing wrong?!”

“And that’s the part where I escort the three of you out.”

Ino felt a hand on her shoulder and with a swift motion she was pushed out of the office.

“What the fu—” she started and was about to go back but Raidou stepped in her way. “Let me in!”

“With that attitude? Not a chance.”

Ino raised her fist – she didn’t know if she really wanted to hit Raidou or not – but Kiba quickly grabbed her shoulders and started pulling her back.

“Let me go!” Ino yelled at him.

“Ino, calm down!” Kiba growled. Ino was kicking his leg so he probably had a hard time holding her back. “You’re just making everything worse!”

“How much worse can it be?! Something is going on and Kurenai-sensei is punished for nothing! The Hokage should do something!”

“Or maybe you should do something with yourself” Raidou said, voice getting low. “It doesn’t matter who your father is and which clan’s heir you are. You’re just a bratty genin who should know her place.”

Ino stopped struggling. She glared at the jounin in front of them, wishing that she could throw some kunai with her mind at his.

She shrugged off Kiba’s hands and turned her back to Raidou.

“Let’s go, guys” she said as she marched away. “I had enough with this place.”

She probably had a scary expression on her face because everyone they came across jumped away from their way. The better for them. Ino knew she would snap at anyone who just looked at her the wrong way.

She was angry at the Hokage, at Raidou, and this damn situation they were in. What needed to happen so the Hokage would finally do something? What if the Village was in some real danger? And even if it wasn’t, wouldn’t it be better to check? Better be safe than sorry?

“Ino.”

Yes, she was only a genin. But a genin could be right, no? Why would their opinions be dismissed like that? It wasn’t fair…

“Ino.”

“What?!”

She stopped and glared at Kiba. He had a pained expression and Shino wasn’t doing any better, no matter how neutral he tried to look.

“Let’s have some ice cream” Kiba said. “My treat.”

Ino started shaking.

“You want to have ice cream? Now?! After what happened in the office?!”

Kiba’s shoulders dropped.

“I know you’re angry. I’m angry too. But is there really anything we can do? Can we accomplish anything by yelling at each other?”

Ino closed her eyes then she started rubbing her forehead with both of her hands. She was sure she would soon have a headache.

“No” she said in the end with a quieter voice. “I’m sorry. I’m not angry at you guys, it’s just…”

“Yeah” Kiba agreed.

The three of them walked in silence towards the closest ice cream bar. Ino looked behind them a few times, hoping that she would spot their sensei following them. But Kurenai was nowhere to be seen.

“I wouldn’t be worried about her” Shino said. “Why? Because I believe Kurenai-sensei is a capable ninja. And the Hokage values her opinion.”

Ino really wanted to believe Shino at that moment.

*****

The two figures were silent in the office as the yelling continued outside on the corridor. Soon a third figure entered, letting out a tired sigh after he closed the door behind himself.

“You have one feisty genin, Kurenai” Raidou said.

Kurenai tried to fight back a smile.

“And you haven’t seen her at her best yet. Or her worst.”

The Hokage took out the papers from the box once again, looking at them now with the concern he’d been hiding before.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Is there really anything we should be worried about?”

Kurenai let out a long breath, the tension leaving her body with the exhale.

“I wouldn’t be concerned if they really needed weapons for the Chuunin Exams. But that number is too high. At least for a smaller village like the Hidden Sound.”

The Hokage rubbed his chin.

“It’s true that the quantity is high, but we can’t ignore the fact that the Hidden Sound is a relatively new Hidden Village. They need to build up their resources.”

“True, but why would they want to participate in the Chuunin Exams this soon after the establishment of their Village?” Kurenai asked. “Their first priority should be their own home right now.”

The Hokage folded his fingers and rested his chin on them.

“Ape.”

Mikan jumped out of the shadow of the corner, landing on one knee right at the Hokage’s desk.

“Yes, Lord Hokage?”

“I want you to take a troop to Shirogane and investigate the relation between the mining company and the Hidden Sound.”

“Yes, Lord Hokage.”

Mikan was about to jump out the window, already planning who she would take with her, when a very familiar looking pug entered with a scroll in his mouth.

“Lord Third” Pakkun said. “I’m here to deliver a message from Kakashi.”

The Hokage frowned at the scroll then sent a look towards Mikan. He didn’t have to say anything. Mikan picked up the scroll and swung it open on the floor. With a puff of smoke two tied up figures appeared in the office.

The Hokage stood up so fast his chair almost toppled over.

Even Mikan’s brows rose in surprise.

“These are the Demon Brothers” she said, crouching down to look at the two unconscious men. One had a swollen jaw and the other was leaning on the first one like he couldn’t hold himself up. Mikan made a quick check and yeah. One of his vertebra was dislocated.

Kakashi had to be really angry at these guys.

“Where’s Kakashi and his team?” the Hokage asked.

“Not sure exactly” Pakkun answered. “Somewhere around the Land of Waves, judging by the direction.”

Hiruzen’s face made Mikan concerned. She hadn’t seen her father this unsettled before.

“What are they doing there?”

Pakkun shrugged, as much as a pug could do.

“They’re escorting someone. The Uzumaki kid had a wound on his hand and the Uchiha kid was a second away from throwing up, but they seemed to be fine.”

“Why—” the Hokage started but quickly regulated his features and turned to Kurenai. “We will discuss your mission later.”

Kurenai, who until now stood in complete silence by the door, looking at one person to the other, trying to figure out what was going on. But she didn’t protest when she bowed and left the office without a word.

Once the door closed, Hiruzen turned back to the pug.

“Every mission close to the Land of Waves is a B-Rank or higher because of the political climate in that area. I would never allow a genin team to go there.”

“They’re still on their way there” Pakkun said. “I told Kakashi that I would send Tenzo after them as backup but he didn’t accept the offer.”

Hiruzen sat back down in his chair, looking more like the old man he was than a Hokage.

“Raidou, take these two to the prison and send for Shikaku to come as soon as possible.”

Raidou nodded and sealed back the two missing-nin inside the scrolls before he left.

The Hokage let out a sigh.

“Ape, you’ll still carry out your mission to Shirogane, but tell Cat to come to my office immediately.”

Mikan nodded and was out of the window in a swift jump.

She didn’t like any of this. Not the strange contract between the Hidden Sound and the mining company, neither this Land of Waves mission her father knew nothing about. Something was moving in the shadows, and it didn’t sit well with her.

It was her job as an ANBU to work in the shadows, after all. And she didn’t like when others entered her territory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ino: Road work ahead?  
> Kiba: Well, I sure hope it does.  
> Ino: (ಠ_ಠ)
> 
> \- I don’t know if the word ’fukaru’ exists in Japanese, I used the Hungarian word ‘fukar’ (stingy, like, not generous at all) and made it to sound like Japanese. I may use this method in the future some more.


	13. Mission to the Land of Waves – part 3

He was floating through darkness.

It was… a strange feeling.

The darkness felt nice…

The solitude… perfect.

It was his world.

In this world he was at peace.

But he was weak.

Exhausted even.

The damn fool…

What was he doing?

What was he thinking?

He fell on the ground.

Cold.

Wet.

He curled up his fists, digging his fingers into the mud,

dirt sticking under his nails.

He felt the raindrops on the back of his neck.

Cold.

Wet.

Reminded him of stone.

Reminded him of funerals.

A graveyard.

A coffin under the ground.

He hated it.

“What happened?” a voice asked from the dark.

He slowly stood up.

It was dark, but he hated it.

It wasn’t his.

He had to be strong here.

Menacing.

Vengeance itself.

He couldn’t show weakness here.

“Nothing” he said.

His voice was coarse.

Was it even his?

The voice hummed.

It was cold.

Chilling to the bones.

Untrustworthy…

Why would he trust it?

No!

Silky.

Slimy.

His only ally.

“I come from the Mist” the voice said.

“Rumours are spreading about the traitor's location.”

He nodded.

He opened his mouth to answer.

But he stopped.

This feeling…

Strange.

Familiar.

Nic—

No.

No, no, no.

Unwelcomed.

Bad.

Or—

No.

He didn’t need it.

He raised his hand to his eye.

_Kakashi…_

“…sensei?”

Kakashi’s eye snapped open.

The tension left Naruto’s features with the relived sigh he let out.

“Finally. We started to get worried. Even Shikamaru woke up already.”

Kakashi blinked. He was panting, sweat running down his brows. He moved his hand to brush it down.

He froze.

His mask was gone.

“I pulled it down” Naruto said. “I thought—”

Kakashi quickly grabbed for the neck of his shirt and pulled it back up.

He took a few deep breaths, hands pressing the fabric on the lower half of his face.

Everything was in order.

He didn’t sit up until he calmed down completely. Naruto was sitting next to him, eyes wide like a scared animal’s.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi-sensei…” he said with a shaky voice. “I thought you would sleep better without it…”

Kakashi shook his head and ruffled Naruto’s hair.

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t, but he couldn’t be angry at the boy. He didn’t know anything. Kakashi had never said anything about it. It wasn’t Naruto’s fault that Kakashi was a disaster.

Naruto nodded, but he was still nervously clawing into his pants.

“So” Kakashi started, changing the subject. “What happened to Shikamaru? You said he just woke up?”

“I fainted” Shikamaru answered. Kakashi turned to look to his other side. Shikamaru was sitting in the corner, leaning against the wall with a blanket on his back and a steaming mug in his hand. He had dark circles under his closed eyes. “I used up most of my chakra when holding back Zabuza’s water clone.”

Kakashi turned his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was bad. A normal C-Rank mission wouldn’t cause chakra exhaustion. But this wasn’t a normal C-Rank anymore. This was an A-Rank mission.

He should’ve listened to Shikamaru and turn back when it hadn’t been too late.

But then Tazuna’s family would be dead by now.

Kakashi let out a sigh.

No matter which one he chose, they wouldn’t have come out as winners in any of these situations.

Continuing the mission prevented civilians from getting murdered.

Continuing the mission meant his genin got hurt.

The door slid open and a woman walked in with a mug similar to Shikamaru’s in her hand.

“Hatake-san, it’s good to see you’re awake” she said and gave Kakashi the mug. “I’m Tsunami. Thank you for protecting my father. And on behalf of my nation, I’m sorry for the trouble my father’s lie caused. It wasn’t our intention to cause harm to anyone.”

Kakashi nodded, smiling under his mask.

“We understand the motivation behind it.”

The corner of Tsunami’s mouth twitched a little, then she nodded. Because she knew what he knew. That Tazuna’s lie jeopardized the safety of the three rookie genin who never had to face dangers like that in their lives before. That they could’ve easily died in the past couple of days.

“I’ll tell your other student that you woke up.” The woman turned to the door. “He jumped on the roof as soon as you arrived, saying he had to make sure you weren’t followed.”

Kakashi nodded.

He’d have to deal with Sasuke too. Make sure that he was alright. He would probably have many questions.

He wasn’t sure he was ready to answer them.

It didn’t take a minute for Sasuke to arrive. He looked tired just like Shikamaru, but he tried to hide it with a sullen expression. He sat down by the door, back against the wall, and stared at Kakashi.

Yep, he wanted answers. Right then and there.

“You did a great job” Kakashi said to all of them. “Good thinking from all of you.”

The three genin stayed silent.

Kakashi let out a sigh and put down the mug.

“I’m sorry” he continued, dropping his eye, looking at his hands in his lap. “This shouldn’t have happened. I should’ve connected the bits of information I knew about this land before we started this mission. I put all three of you in danger.”

“You couldn’t have known” Shikamaru said.

“That doesn’t change the fact that it almost got you killed” Kakashi answered.

“But we didn’t die” Naruto said, a reassuring smile appearing on his face. “You were awesome, sensei!”

“Why do you have the Sharingan?”

They looked at Sasuke. His shoulders were tense, almost shaking, his fingers curled up into fists on his knees.

“You’re not an Uchiha” he continued. “Only an Uchiha should have the Shaingan. Did you steal it?”

He felt Naruto and Shikamaru’s eyes on him as they looked between the two of them.

Kakashi smiled and put a hand on his covered right eye.

“It was a gift” he simply said.

Sasuke snorted.

“Who would give away the Sharingan as a gift?”

Kakashi felt the muscles of his face tensing.

“The kind who was dying and knew this was the only way his other two teammates would survive.”

The room turned cold. Kakashi felt goose bumps forming along his arms. He bit his lip, his teeth breaking the skin, drawing blood, filling his mouth with the coppery taste.

“You didn’t know him” Kakashi continued. “Obito died before you were born. He was… not the usual Uchiha. He was easygoing, loud, an idealist. Naruto reminds me of him a lot.” He looked at the boy. “He even wanted to be the Hokage and took every opportunity to prove himself, even if he failed most of the time. But he never gave up.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly. His eyes started to shine, filled with admiration for a person he’d never met.

Kakashi’s heart clenched. They would’ve understood each other so well.

“We were on a mission during the Third Great Ninja War. We had to destroy a bridge the enemy troops used. Our sensei was called to the front, so the three of us had to finish the mission on our own. We were ambushed, our teammate was captured, and me and Obito had to work together to save Rin. The cave collapsed on us and I only survived because Obito pushed me out of the way. He was buried under the rock.”

Kakashi stared at his fingers, rubbing and brushing them together.

“We had the enemy right outside the cave. There was no way out. I just became a jounin and Obito was the only one who hadn’t given me a gift for my promotion. So in his last moments he decided to give me his Sharingan. He became my eye to see the future even after his death. He became my eye so Rin and I could survive that day. If I’d listened to Obito earlier, if I’d decided to leave our mission and go to save Rin right away, Obito would still be alive today.”

His vision blurred. He quickly rubbed his eye and looked at Sasuke with a smile.

“So I didn’t steal the Sharingan” he said, forcing as much casualness into his voice as he could. “That would’ve been impossible, to be honest.”

Sasuke dropped his gaze, staring at the floor. His expression went through several transformations after Kakashi finished talking.

“That’s why you fainted” Shikamaru said with a low voice. “It strains your body when you use it for too long.”

Kakashi tilted his head, chuckling.

“I’m training myself to be able to use it more, but yeah. It uses up too much of my chakra. So we are in similar boats.”

Snuffling.

Kakashi turned to Naruto with a frown.

The boy was trying to hold back the sobs rocking his shoulders, but the tears were still running down his cheeks with a rapid pace.

“Come on, Naruto” Kakashi said ruffling the boy’s head. “This happened a long time ago. Crying won’t change anything.”

“This is why you wanted us to work as a team” Naruto sobbed out.

Kakashi froze.

Naruto looked up at him with teary eyes.

“That’s why you said we should never leave a teammate behind. You don’t want us to feel the same pain you did.”

Kakashi’s vision blurred again.

Damn it…

He didn’t want to cry in front of his students.

*****

So Kakashi’s teammate had died on a mission…

Naruto pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. After a restless night he came up to the roof to keep an eye on everything. Or maybe to just be alone to think about what had happened the previous day.

He didn’t know how he felt right now. There was this… pain in his chest. He felt sorry for his sensei, but there was something else… Something deeper. He felt sad for Obito’s death. Was it because he’d been his sensei’s friend? Or because Naruto reminded Kakashi of Obito? Was Kakashi always hiding his sadness behind his mask every time he saw Naruto? It was unfair to their sensei. Obito should’ve lived! Then maybe Kakashi wouldn’t be so sad all the time.

Now Naruto could understand why Kakashi wanted them to work as a team so much, and why he was so serious about them caring for each other. Naruto didn’t know how he would feel if his own teammates died. He liked his team, even when Sasuke was acting like a jerk. He got closer to them in the past month, and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. Would any of them be as sad as Kakashi if they were the only one alive?

Would they be sad if he was the one to die?

And now he also understood why Kakashi hadn’t wanted to know them on their first day. Because who would want to get close to anyone when their old friends all died? Who would want to feel the same pain again and again and again?

“Hey!”

Naruto looked down. A kid was looking up at him, about the same age as Konohamaru. He was Inari, Tazuna’s grandson.

If they’d turned back to Konoha, maybe this boy would be dead by now and his mother too. And Tazuna would arrive to a house with the dead bodies of his family.

A shiver ran down Naruto’s back.

“What are you doing up there?” Inari asked. Naruto could see his narrowed eyes even in the shade of his hat.

“I’m keeping an eye on the streets” Naruto said.

Inari crossed his arms before his chest.

“You’re a lame ninja then” he said. “You didn’t even notice me coming here. How can you keep an eye on the streets like that?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, but he didn’t argue. The kid was right. He was too deep in his thoughts to notice anything. He was a lame guard…

Naruto stood up and jumped down. He landed softly next to the kid, who jumped back a little in surprise. Naruto smiled at him. Maybe Inari had never seen any ninjas before. Kaji had said back on the boat that the Eddy had been destroyed many years ago, maybe even before Naruto was born.

“What are you doing up so early?” Naruto asked. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“It’s none of your business!” Inari yelled at him, and it was Naruto’s turn to take a step back. He didn’t expect this yelling this early in the morning.

“Inari!” Inari’s mother came out of the house. “I told you to find Naruto, not to yell at him!” Tsunami glared at her son for a second longer, then smiled at Naruto. “Good morning, Naruto. I wanted to ask you if you would go for some herbs. There’s a kind lady who grows them not that far from the village.”

“But Mom!” Inari spoke up. “I told you I can go alone!”

“No, Inari. I won’t let you go alone.”

“But he doesn’t even know where he has to go!”

“Then you go together, but I won’t let you go anywhere on your own.” She looked back at Naruto. “Would you go with Inari?”

Inari didn’t look too happy about the idea. He turned away from his mother with a pout on his face, sending a glare towards Naruto while he did it.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, yeah” he said. “Who knows what kind of ninjas are hiding around here.”

Tsunami smiled at him then handed him a box.

“Please, give this to Umisachi-san.”

Naruto carefully took the box. It was surprisingly heavy for a box that small, but Naruto nodded before he turned to Inari.

“So? Where do we need to go?”

Inari glanced at him, then started walking without a word. Naruto followed him in silence.

The village was still quite. Most of the people were still sleeping, or they were already out on the sea fishing. The water wasn’t that far away, Naruto could smell the salt in the air. He’d never seen any salt water before this mission. Becoming a ninja and going on missions was a great way to see the world.

But it was also dangerous. They hadn’t met any enemy ninjas on their delivery missions before. But there were people who attacked others who were weaker than them, maybe even killed them. And if they weren’t there to protect Tazuna, he would be dead by now. Maybe his family too.

Naruto glanced at Inari as they left the last house and continued walking on. He was… an angry kid. He hadn’t seen him smile since they arrived and he was always so cold around them. He reminded Naruto of Sasuke in a way. He’d been this cold and angry when they were little. Naruto hoped Inari wouldn’t become a jerk like Sasuke when he got older.

He soon noticed a small house right next to the forest. It was similar to the others in the village, but it looked a bit older. Still, it looked nice with all the flowers around it and on the walls.

Inari knocked on the door when they got there and they didn’t have to wait long before it opened.

A woman stood before them. Naruto had no idea how old she was because her hair was white like any older person’s but she almost had no wrinkles around her face like the Old Man did. She wasn’t tall, but not too short either. And her eyes were a deep shade of purple that reminded Naruto of a flower he’d once seen Ino watering in her family’s flower shop.

“Inari, good morning” the woman said. Her voice was deep and warm.

“Good morning, Umisachi-san” Inari said.

The woman looked at Naruto, and Naruto almost felt like he was getting smaller with each second. It was like the woman looked right into his soul.

“I don’t think I know you.”

“I’m U…” he started, but quickly remembered what Kakashi had said. “I’m Naruto. I came here with my team with Tazuna-san.”

The woman hummed, looking at the forehead protector on Naruto’s head.

“A Leaf ninja, huh?”

Naruto didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what the woman meant with that little ‘huh’. Was she angry, surprised or what? Should he be offended or scared? He had no idea.

“Yeah…” he finally said with a small voice.

“I’m Umisachi” the woman said, then pointed at the box. “And that’s for me, I guess.”

Naruto quickly gave her the box.

“It’s from Inari’s mother.”

Umisachi opened the box, taking something out of it. It was a glass bottle with a paper on one of its sides.

“Grounded ginger. Is anyone feeling sick?”

“The ninjas are lame” Inari said. “They fainted after a fight.”

“Hey!” Naruto turned to Inari, fists curling up. “We were attacked and my teammates were exhausted!”

“Ginger is not for chakra related sickness, it’s for simple nausea. For example when someone feels sick out on the sea, ginger tea can ease their stomach, got it?” Umisachi looked through the box some more. “Now this is what you need for chakra exhaustion.”

She showed a bottle to Naruto.

“Si…? Chi…?” Naruto tried reading the word on the paper.

“Schisandra. Or magnolia-vine. They also call the fruit the five-flavor-fruit. It can do wonders.” She turned around and walked inside the house. “Sit down and don’t touch anything.”

Inari walked in, he probably came here a lot of times and knew where to go. Naruto followed him, but he was more careful as he entered.

The house smelled great inside. It started tickling his nose after a while and he almost sneezed, but it still smelled wonderful. He hadn’t noticed until know that his nose was stuffed, because it now suddenly opened up, and he could breathe better than before. He found an empty chair next to Inari’s and quickly sat down.

The room they were in looked almost like a kitchen. But instead of food, flowers and other green plants were all around the tables. Umisachi walked around these tables, her long hair waving behind her as she moved. Naruto noticed that sometimes it looked a little pink in the light. Not as pink as Sakura’s hair, it was darker than hers.

“So, you say your team was in a fight?” the woman asked after a while. She stood next to a scale now, pouring some powders into a bowl on one side of it.

“Yeah” Naruto nodded. “Tazuna-san said some people wanted to kill him but we didn’t let that happen.”

“Admirable.” Umisachi put some weights on the other side of the scale. “You and your teammates must be brave then. Though it’s not so admirable that you’re sent on these kinds of missions at such a young age.”

Naruto tilted his head. He remembered something else Kaji said about ninjas and conflicts. Were they really that young to become a ninja? He never really thought about it before. For him it was the only way to get any money when he’d get older. Nobody would want him to work for them. And he wouldn’t have survived this long on the streets. There wasn’t always enough food in the garbage behind the restaurants and he couldn’t always buy enough food in the grocery shop. And if he hadn’t gone to the Academy, he wouldn’t have met Iruka and there wouldn’t have been any meals at Ichiraku’s.

But all of Kakashi’s friends had died. Had they been kids like him? Had Obito died as a kid? Had they been promoted like Kaji had said only to fight and die in a war?

“I want to become a Hokage, so there won’t be any wars and kids like me don’t have to fight anymore” he said suddenly. He even surprised himself when he said that.

Umisachi looked at him, hands stopping right before she put more weight on the scale.

“Hokage, huh?” She put down the weight. “Aren’t you a little too young to have such grand dreams like that?”

Naruto crossed his arms before his chest.

“Why shouldn’t I have big dreams?” he asked.

“I used to know someone who wanted to become a Kage too” Umisachi said. “But the road to become one is pawed with sacrifice, pain, and blood. First get to know the world you’re living in and then decide what you want to do, got it?”

“I’m getting to know it, you know?” Naruto looked down at his feet, moving them back and forth, his toes only brushing the floor. “There are people who lost loved ones. Some can forgive, but some will always blame others. Some people lie so they can save others, and some people team up with the enemy to fight an other enemy. Kakashi-sensei said I need to know the whole web to understand everything, so I’ll keep learning.”

Umisachi hummed as she continued her work.

“You’re a good kid” she said after a while. “You’re parents must be proud.”

Naruto started swinging his legs sideways.

“I don’t have parents.”

The woman hummed again.

“Shame. What is it, Inari?” she turned to the other boy. “You’re awfully quite today. Where’s the chattering? Normally you would’ve told me about your week by now.”

Inari didn’t answer and soon the only sound was Umisachi putting the glasses back inside the box.

“Done” she said.

Naruto jumped up from the chair to take the box. Now with the full glasses it became heavier, he had to be careful with it on their way back.

He soon noticed that Umisachi was still watching him. He looked at her with a frown.

“Is there something else?” he asked.

Umisachi shook her head after a while, then ruffled Naruto’s hair. Out of everyone who’d already done that she was the most gentle. Naruto almost didn’t want her to stop.

“It’s nothing. I wish you the best, Naruto. I hope you can fulfill your grand dreams.”

They left the house with a strange feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t explain what it was and why it was there. Maybe it was upset after all those smells inside the house.

“How did your parents die?” Inaru asked after a long silence. They were almost back to the village when he spoke up.

“I… Don’t really know” Naruto said. “I guess I was a baby when they died. I never knew them.”

“Do you… miss them?”

Naruto frowned at Inari. Where were all these questions coming from? And now that he was looking at the boy he was acting strange too. He looked nervous, almost scared.

“I never knew them so… I don’t really have anything to miss? I know it sounds strange. But if you don’t have something in the first place, you don’t really notice when it goes missing.”

Inari lowered his head.

“Why are you asking all these questions?” Naruto asked.

The sadness was quickly replaced by anger in Inari’s eyes. He glared at Naruto, snarling at him like an angry dog.

“None of your business!” Inari yelled at him and started running back to his house.

Naruto stopped and watched as Inari got further away from him.

Did he say something wrong?

*****

Actually… he knew Obito.

Not personally, of course. As Kakashi had said, Obito had died long before Sasuke was born.

The Uchiha used to have their own memorial shrine for the members who had lost their lives in the wars. Ever since he could remember, his mother had brought him to the shrine at least once a week to change the flowers. They’d always brought asters, the soft lilac stood out between all the reds.

“It means ‘I won’t forget you’” she’d said. “Never forget those who are not with us, Sasuke. They can teach you a lot about life. But” she’d crouched down to tap his forehead, “don’t forget about those who still live with us. Living only in the past would cloud the present, and divert you from the future.”

At that time he hadn’t known what she’d meant by that. He’d been too little to understand the true meaning behind her words. How grief could take over one’s mind and not let them to think about anything else.

He sometimes wondered what his life would’ve been like if his family hadn’t died. What kind of person he would be now? What would an Uchiha Sasuke be like who’d never had to experience the loss of his family? Who still had a loving mother and a brother he could look up to?

Sasuke bit on his lip and closed his eyes.

No, it wasn’t why he’d recalled this memory.

Uchiha Obito’s name had been written on this memorial. And it had been one of the names his mother’s eyes had always lingered on.

“He was a kind boy” Mikoto had answered when he’d asked about him. “A little absentminded, but his heart was in the right place. He always stopped to help everyone around him and was always late from everywhere.”

A sad smile had grown on her face.

“He’d died protecting his teammates. His friends. He deserves to be remembered as a hero.”

Sasuke remembered how said his mother had become when she’d talked about him. The way she’d adjusted the flowers several times, or how she’d took a last look at the name before they’d gone home.

Fugaku had never talked about Obito, which had confused Sasuke. If an Uchiha died as a hero, they should be remembered by everyone, right? And if Obito had died protecting his teammates, he should’ve been remembered as a hero by everyone, right?

Maybe this was why his father hadn’t talked about him. The fact that he’d given his Sharingan to someone outside of the clan.

The Sharingan was difficult to awaken. It wasn’t as easy to activate as the Byakugan. An Uchiha needed to reach a certain level in their training and even then some other factors needed to be present. Some Uchiha would awaken their Sharingan at a very young age, some later as adults, some would never have the ability.

Or at least that used to be true. Now only two Uchihas were alive.

Giving this clan ability to an outsider had to be considered a disgrace of some kind. Treason even. Maybe that was why only his mother had talked about Obito, remembering him with the respect he’d deserved.

But then why hadn’t they taken back the Sharingan from Kakashi? He had it for almost fifteen years now if his calculations were correct. Why had they let him keep it?

And not only for the reason that it was an Uchiha ability that only belonged to the Uchiha. If someone didn’t born with the bloodline, it could tire them out quicker to the point of almost killing them. And Kakashi, no matter how much he didn’t want to show it, had almost died trying to protect them from Zabuza. His body wasn’t built for the Sharingan.

But even if someone, even Kakashi, decided to remove that eye, it was already too late. Konoha only had one Uchiha who hadn’t awakened his Sharingan yet. Even half of a complete Sharingan possessed by a non Uchiha was an advantage for Konoha against the other nations. Eye dojutsus were rare and Konoha had two of them.

Was it why he’d been put in this team? Because of the Sharingan? So when he’d finally awaken it Kakashi could give him a training nobody else could? But would it be a correct training from someone who hadn’t been trained for it himself? What if there were some common difficulties and dangers he had to look out for but Kakashi knew nothing about?

Everything was so uncertain…

But he was still far away from the point that he had an awakened Sharingan. He needed to have it, had to have it, but maybe he would never have one. He needed to be ready for that possible scenario.

Sasuke stood on his wobbly legs he tried to make as steady as possible and walked out of the room. Kakashi was out again and Shikamaru was also sleeping or thinking or whatever he was doing when he was napping. Sasuke didn’t need sleep, not now anyway. All he wanted now was to be alone and some fresh air to clear his head.

“Oh, how do you feel, Sasuke?” Tsunami asked when she looked at him over her shoulder. She was standing at the kitchen counter, preparing some kind of meal.

“Fine” he said with a low voice. He wasn’t in the mood to talk right now, but he also didn’t want to be too rude. This family had welcomed them, some strangers from an other country, into their home, after all. They should be grateful for their hospitality.

“Would you mind helping me for a bit?” Tsunami asked. “I sent Inari and Naruto out for some herbs. They’ll soon be back and I need to be ready with everything.”

Sasuke flexed and relaxed his toes before he nodded. He didn’t plan his day like this, but it wasn’t polite to say no to their host when they asked for help. That was what his mother would say.

So Sasuke soon found himself sitting at the table, cutting vegetables. He’d helped Mikoto with cooking only a few times. Just like with gardening, his father hadn’t liked him doing other chores around the house that would take time away from training. He’d never failed to remind Sasuke that the more time he’d spent with his mother, the less likely he would catch up to Itachi’s level, and Sasuke had had a lot to work on before he could even dream about that.

He… he didn’t miss that, to be honest, as cruel as it sounded. His father’s constant reminders of how weak Sasuke still had been put a weight on his chest every time his father had entered the room. And it’d been a weight that he’d carried with himself all day everywhere he’d gone. Almost every morning he’d just wanted to stay in bed or hide under it, but his father would’ve dragged him out of his room by force and wouldn’t have stopped bringing it up for the following months to come. He’d needed to perform at school so he could have that peace in his life, so his father would leave him alone with that.

Looking back now he…

He didn’t miss his father…

No, he wasn’t happy that he’d died. He would never be grateful for what Itachi had done to their family. But the farther he got from him, the more he realized how Fugaku had ruined his childhood with the constant reminding of how weak and useless Sasuke had been, how he’d never be like Itachi. Now he had peace in that regard.

But he really missed his mother. Her softness, her compassion, her warmth… Their secret hushed conversations when his father had been away. Her encouraging words, that Sasuke had been perfect the way he’d been, he hadn’t needed to prove anything to anyone, he’d only needed to be himself.

Most of the time, while training or at the Academy, he’d thought about his mother. Of how proud he’d wanted her to be of him. Because she’d never set him goals he could barely reach. She’d been happy to see any progress no matter how little that had been, or just to see him finding joy in everything he’d been doing.

Yeah… That he missed a lot.

“Thank you, Sasuke.” Tsunami took the cut vegetables from him – he didn’t remember cutting all of them – and put an other plate in front of him. “Would you slice this one up?”

Sasuke wasn’t even looking at what he needed to slice. He took the knife in his hand again and was about to make the first sl—

The knife hit the table than bounced off to the floor.

“Sasuke? Is everything—?”

The chair sled away from the table loudly, almost tipping over. Rapid footsteps were heard, retreating from the kitchen back to the room.

The door closed with a click and the footsteps retreated back to the far corner.

Pumping veins hammered the eardrums.

The air had to crawl its way down to the lungs.

Everything was spinning.

“If you’re about to throw up go to the bathroom.”

Sasuke curled up his fingers to a tight fist.

“Shut up…”

He heard motion behind him and soon a figure crouched down next to him just out of reach.

“What is it?”

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

“Leave me alone” he hissed.

Shikamaru let out a sigh and sat down like he was an old man struggling with a back ache.

“Look” he started. “I know we’re not the best of friends. Hell, I wouldn’t even call us acquaintances. But this issue is something we’ll have a problem with in the long run.”

Sasuke’s head snapped up. He was almost trembling with all the anger he needed to hold back.

Or maybe it was fear.

“What problem?” he asked.

Shikamaru leaned a bit closer and lowered his voice so just the two of them could hear it.

“Your fear of violence.”

Sasuke’s mind blanked.

“W—what?”

“You almost fainted when you saw Naruto’s wound” Shikamaru started. He was talking slowly, like Sasuke was some idiot who wouldn’t understand him. “You froze when we fought against Zabuza. And I have no idea what triggered you now, but every time something related to violence happens around you, you pale or froze or don’t eat. And as we progress with our training, we go on more difficult and dangerous missions. And we’ll have to fight, and there will be injuries and blood.”

“Sasuke.” Shikamaru tilted his head, leaning a little lower. Sasuke didn’t notice he slowly lowered his gaze as Shikamaru spoke. “Do you really want to be a ninja? Someone who wants to kill a certain person?”

Did he want to become a ninja?

That was a question that had crossed his mind several times when he’d been little. His father had always pushed him to catch up to Itachi but he’d never seen him as an individual person. He’d never bothered to get to know him.

But his mother… Mikoto only talked about ninjas when Sasuke had asked. They’d talked about their days, the things they’d seen. About the tomatoes in the garden, and what kind of toy they should buy for Kohana. About the books they’d read and the people they’d known.

Did he want to become a ninja?

No.

Absolutely not.

But once he’d been forced into this lifestyle, he couldn’t just leave it behind. Not now when he was the only Uchiha of Konoha with a unique eye dojutsu that could win wars in the future.

Not when his brother was still out there.

“You don’t know anything” he growled.

“Well, that’s true” Shikamaru said. “Maybe if you explain to me then maybe I’ll—”

He didn’t know when he moved, but in the next moment Shikamaru fell on his back, and Sasuke had an extended hand.

“Leave me alone.”

Sasuke lay down on his futon and turned his back to his teammate.

He heard Shikamaru letting out a sigh after a while then he stood up.

“As you wish” he said as he walked back to his own futon.

Sasuke tried not to chew much on the inside of his mouth. The least he needed now was the taste of blood.

He didn’t want to talk about it.

He didn’t want anyone to know about it.

It was his own fea—problem.

He would deal with it alone.

And to think that the past few minutes were caused by some fish he needed to slice…

*****

Now that he was up, now that his mind wasn’t fuzzy with exhaustion and stress, he could finally think.

He lifted the mug to his lips, inhaling the steam of the tea in it. It had a fruity smell, one he didn’t recognize, but it tasted great even though he wasn’t a big fan of fruit based teas. It was probably made out of the fruits and herbs native to this climate, the ones that could survive the salty humidity of the air.

He was still exhausted though. His chakra vanished from one moment to the other, shutting him down the moment the danger had been gone and he hadn’t had to protect anyone anymore.

He only now realized the full danger of his leaking chakra passages. He remembered the stories his father had told him early on in his shadow training, about the Nara who hadn’t been careful and had been swallowed by the shadows. He’d shrugged it off, not really caring about it because he’d thought he wouldn’t be that reckless to allow that to happen. But now here he was, after the first most dangerous fight of his life, and if the fight had continued on, he would’ve died either by the enemy’s hands or by his own shadow.

Shikamaru rubbed the bridge of his nose. No matter how much he’d trained with his father, he couldn’t solve this problem on his own. He needed help as soon as they got back to Konoha. And as much as he didn’t want anything to do with Hyuuga Hiashi, he probably was the only one who could help him now. Wonderful.

The door slid open and Tsunami entered with two mugs in her hands. Naruto followed her inside, holding one cup too.

“How are you guys doing?” Naruto asked, giving the mug to Shikamaru, while Tsunami gave the other two to Sasuke and Kakashi.

“Better, I guess.” Shikamaru drank from his new mug of tea. He grimaced. It didn’t taste as great as the previous one. “What is this?”

“Magnolia-vine” Naruto answered. “It’s good for chakra exhaustion. At least that’s what Umisachi-san said.”

“Umisachi-san?”

“Some old lady.” Naruto spread his arms, gesturing wildly with them. “She has so many herbs and flowers in her house! It’s insane!”

On the other side of the room Sasuke made a sound like he just sneezed into his tea. Looking there, Shikamaru saw him pressing his lips together and shutting his eyes closed like he was fighting back something from leaving him.

Maybe he should've left Sasuke alone. He didn't know him that much, but he knew he wouldn't open up to him just like that. He'd said they didn't need to be friends.

But it bothered him, and, to be honest, he was a bit concerned. The more panic attacks Sasuke had out on the field in a battle, the more likely he would die out there without being able to defend himself. And he or Naruto or Kakashi wouldn't be able to protect him all the time. So Sasuke really needed to decide what he wanted to do: did he want to go on with this life style, or did he want to turn his back to it.

Shikamaru looked down at his mug. For someone who had wanted nothing to do with Sasuke, he got to the point where he cared, even if just a bit.

“That’s ginger tea” Naruto said cheerfully like Sasuke wasn’t struggling at all with his tea.

“I know ginger” Sasuke said. “This is not ginger.”

“I don’t know what kind of ginger you have back in Konoha, but this is the ginger we have here.” Tsunami put her hands on her hips. “And you better drink it if you want to recover.”

“Come on, children.” Kakashi put down his empty mug. “Tsunami-san is making a great effort to help us.”

Shikamaru wrinkled his nose and gathered some courage to down the tea in one go. He shuddered at the taste and at the way it burnt his stomach. He really hoped it would work in the end.

“Kakashi-sensei” he started after Tsunami gathered the empty mugs and left.

“What is it, Shikamaru?”

“How does the Konoha ANBU get rid of a target?”

Naruto jerked his head towards him.

“Why do you want to know something so creepy like that?”

“Because something was strange with that Kiri ANBU” he explained. “Maybe it’s because he’s from an other Hidden Village, I don’t know.”

Kakashi let out a long sigh and rubbed his chin.

“I checked Zabuza’s pulse. I didn’t feel it.” He paused. “But I don’t think he died.”

Naruto let out a sound like he was chocking. Even Sasuke couldn’t hide how shocked he was about this revelation.

Shikamaru swallowed, but his throat still felt too dry.

“Why do you think that?” he asked.

Kakashi leaned a little forward, elbows resting on his knees.

“ANBU, at least the Leaf ANBU, don’t use senbon to kill their target. But senbon are perfect to paralyze them. Especially the area of the neck.” He brushed a few fingers on the side of his neck. “There are points here that are used in acupuncture, but the ANBU are taught of those as well. And I think this Mist ANBU used one of those to make Zabuza appear dead.”

Naruto shifted in his seat.

“You mean…”

“Zabuza is alive” Shikamaru finished the sentence. “And he can try to kill Tazuna-san again.”

Silence fell on the room. They’d barely survived their last encounter with the missing-nin, how could they come out alive from the next one? Sasuke had gotten a panic attack during the fight. Kakashi had been drained by the Sharingan. Shikamaru had only used his chakra for a certain period of time then he’d fainted. The only one who was still able to fight was Naruto but he wouldn’t be able to protect Tazuna on his own against Zabuza. And a Mist ANBU, it seemed.

They were in a disadvantage. A serious disadvantage. Their chance of survival was so low Shikamaru wondered if he would ever see his parents again.

He quickly swallowed down the tightness in his throat.

“So? What do we do now?”

Kakashi sighed and lay down back on his futon.

“Our only advantage right now is that we have time to rest. Zabuza might not be dead but he needs time to recover from those senbon wounds. That would take about two or three days. Naruto and Sasuke will guard Tazuna-san today and tomorrow, then me and Shikamaru once we get better. In the meantime we try to come up with a strategy.”

“We still don’t know if the Kiri ANBU has any hidden techniques” Shikamaru pointed out.

“Well, then we need to come up with a strategy that also includes that.”

Kakashi turned on his side and he almost immediately fell asleep.

Shikamaru exchanged looks with the others. He doubted they could prepare for anything like that.

*****

Everything hurt.

The damn kunai wounds on his legs and arms. The damn senbon wounds on his neck.

It fucking hurt.

“Zabuza-san.”

Zabuza turned his eyes. He still couldn't move his head, damn it... Haku was standing next to his bed, preparing some kind of paste he would put on his wounds.

“Don’t do anything stupid” he continued with a calm, gentle voice. “You’ll only hurt yourself further. And I don’t want you to feel more pain. More then necessary.”

Zabuza let out a huff and continued to stare at the ceiling.

“You’ll need a few days to recover” Haku said.

Perfect. Just perfect. The Copy Ninja and his squad of brats would sooner or later figure out that he hadn’t died and they would have too much time to get prepared. This wasn’t how he’d expected this assignment to go.

This was supposed to be a quick job. Kill the bridge builder, get the money, get as far as they could. The Konoha ninja, especially that damned Copy Ninja wasn’t part of the plan.

They needed to move. Soon. The news that he was here would quickly reach Kiri, and the ANBU, the real ANBU, would be here in a day or two. They couldn't let them catch up to them now when he couldn't even protect himself.

“Did you see it?” Zabuza asked. “His eyes.”

Haku paused, then nodded.

“I did” he said. “Do you think it was him?”

This was the question he’d been asking himself since he woke up. Was Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, the one with that single Sharingan, responsible for everything that had happened in the Mist? He tried to recall everything he knew about Kiri and the Leaf Ninja. Connecting the dots, placing certain but highly important events on a timeline.

But nothing. No connections between Kakashi and the Mist apart from him killing that troop of Mist ninjas.

And the glint had been there in the Third’s eyes even before Kakashi had gotten his hands on the Sharingan. And in the Fourth’s eyes long after all the Uchiha had died.

“No” he answered in the end. “It wasn’t him.”

Haku nodded, accepting his answer.

And to be honest… No matter what he thought about him, Kakashi didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would let whole clans getting murdered just because they had a kekkei genkai.

“I liked what the blond boy said.”

Zabuza glanced at Haku.

“About being in a team” Haku continued, his lips curled up to a smile. “To not leave anyone behind.” He looked at Zabuza, smile almost blinding. “It reminded me of the time when you found me on the streets. You didn’t leave me behind, and I would always be grateful for that.”

Caring about teammates was not something the Mist encouraged. A teammate was a necessity for a mission to be successfully completed, but if any of them died in the process, it wasn’t a loss. Everything that mattered was the mission, nothing else. Only the weak fell back and died. And the Mist didn’t need weaklings.

And the Mist didn’t need anyone too powerful either. Because power meant they could overthrow the leaders of the Village.

Zabuza glanced back at Haku.

He still didn’t understand why the Fourth would allow the hate to get so out of hands to the point that he wouldn’t stopped anyone with a kekkei genkai to be murdered.

Zabuza let out a sigh.

He missed Yagura.

“Is something wrong, Zabuza-san?” Haku asked.

Zabuza slowly shook his head. His neck was still stiff and it hurt like hell when he moved it.

“No.” Then he continued after a pause: “We need to make some plans. In case the Leaf ninjas find us.”

Haku nodded in agreement. He dipped his index and middle finger into the paste and started covering up the wounds with it.

“I’ll go to the town today. See what they’re doing.”

Zabuza nodded and closed his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to move for a few days but he was already planning what he would do.

And one of those plans had a lot to do with the Leaf ninja with the Sharingan.

*****

No matter how bad that ginger tea had tasted, it helped to calm down his stomach. He still felt uneasy whenever he thought about what had happened during that fight, but he quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He didn’t need those right now, he didn’t want to deal with them. Once he was back in his apartment he would think about them again. There he could be on his own and nobody would see him breaking apart under the pressure of his fears.

Sasuke sucked in a deep breath. No. No, he was not breaking. There was no fear. He wouldn’t break. He was not afraid of anything. No breaking… No fears…

“Come on, Sasuke!” Naruto called him. He was already far ahead with Tazuna. “Did you fall asleep or something?”

Sasuke huffed and quickened his steps.

He still believed that they should’ve turned back to Konoha. Tazuna endangered the lives of three rookie genin with his lie. He should be punished for that. Then a team of chuunin or jounin should come here to deal with this Gato and Zabuza.

But no. It had to be them coming here to protect this one bridge builder. Three genin who, and Sasuke was not that stupid to deny it, were too inexperienced and weak, and a jounin with a Sharingan who couldn’t use it without fainting. Excellent.

Thinking of Kakashi… He still couldn’t understand why Kakashi was allowed to keep the Sharingan and why he hadn’t heard about it before. Because that should’ve caused a lot of talking and gossiping. The Uchiha were… had been a prideful clan. They wouldn’t just allow anyone to possess their prized doujutsu who wasn’t an Uchiha.

Who had been the Head of the Clan during the last war? Had it been his father? Or his grandfather? Kakashi still having the Sharingan meant that they had allowed it. Was it because they’d honored Obito’s whish? Or they hadn’t really cared at all? Which would be… hard to imagine.

Sasuke brushed his right eye, just below his lower eyelid. He sometimes wondered what an activated Sharingan would feel like. He didn’t know when it would happen and what abilities it would possess, it all depended on the user.

Activating his Sharingan would be a major milestone on his journey to his goal. Without it he would have no chance against Itachi…

He let out a long silent sigh. After their fight with Zabuza, Sasuke had to admit that he was still too far from the level where he could face Itachi on his own. If he met him right here right now, he would be dead within a minute.

And he didn’t want to die.

He didn’t want to die.

He didn’t—

“Careful” Tazuna said, pulling Sasuke out of his thoughts. They arrived to the bridge. There were construction materials all around them and tools were lying all around on the ground. “Looks like Gato’s men scared everyone away yesterday. They must’ve left in a hurry and didn’t pack away anything.”

“If Gato doesn’t want the bridge to be built” Naruto started, “why didn’t he blow all this up?” Then he quickly added: “Not that I want it to be blown up! I’m just curious.”

Tazuna led them through the boxes and pallets of brick and metal.

“I think he wants to set it as an example. To show the people that there’s no future for the dreams. I’m sure once I’m dead he would hang my body from the edge of the unfinished bridge for a reminder. That wouldn’t be the first time he makes a public demonstration.”

“And you still want to build this bridge?” Sasuke asked. “Knowing that you could be killed at any moment?”

Tazuna picked up a hammer on their way.

“This land suffered too much since the fall of Uzushio. I want the best for the people who live here. I don’t want Gato to be the one who hammers the last nail into their coffin.”

Tazuna stepped to the railing on the bridge and started working on it.

“You can sit down there or scout or whatever. Just don’t bother me and try not to ruin anything.”

Naruto frowned, looking around.

“Where are the other workers?”

“Gato’s last demonstration was a great warning to anyone who tries to be a hero.”

“So you’re working alone? On the whole bridge?”

Tazuna stopped and look back at them.

“You know Naruto, when that demonstration was the public execution of your son-in-law, you know it’s your duty to keep his spirit and ideals alive.”

Well… that explained a few things. Not just Tazuna’s determination to finish the bridge, but also the way Inari acted. The way he didn’t trust them, his anger, the coldness that made him hard to approach.

It reminded Sasuke of himself.

Grief could change a person, a child, to the worst version of themselves. Losing their family, the ones they loved and loved them in return, was a soul shattering experience and the cracks would never heal fully.

Sasuke stayed close to Tazuna while Naruto chose to walk around the construction. He made a few clones to cover a greater area. This meant he didn’t bother Sasuke with his stupid comments, which was a blessing.

But it also meant Sasuke was left alone with his thoughts.

Sasuke let out a sigh and looked for something light on the ground. Once he found a piece of plastic wrapping he moved his feet above it and practiced his chakra control.

He was getting better with it, but he still couldn’t keep anything attached to his feet for more than half a minute which frustrated him. He’d heard from a few conversations that Team 8 was already practicing on water and Team 10 was also getting there. And that frustrated him a lot. He was supposed to be the best student of their class – counting only the three main subjects, because otherwise Ino would be the best, – so he should be ahead of all of them.

But no, his team had to fall behind all the other teams because Shikamaru had been too ignorant to notice his chakra was leaking. And since Naruto had refused to go any further with his training without their teammate, Sasuke had to choose between advancing on his own or…

He let out too much chakra through his foot and the plastic shredded.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment to calm down.

He didn’t want to think about how much it bothered him that his two other teammates were getting along just fine. He didn’t want to think about how every older ninja they had met ever since they became a team chose Naruto to show any kind of affection to, even though he was a troublemaker.

He didn’t want to think about how much it…

How much it bothered him that he was not included.

Shikamaru had asked what was wrong with him. But it wasn’t out of care for him as a person. It was for the safety of the team. For the safety of the other teammate who had attracted all the attention around them.

Wasn’t he… also part of this team or something?

Didn’t his wellbeing concern anyone?

“Hey!” Tazuna suddenly yelled at him. “Don’t you dare break the pavement!”

Sasuke quickly looked at his feet.

There were tiny cracks under them.

Sasuke quickly stepped away and decided to scout the area instead.

He needed to occupy his mind with something else.

He needed to not think about anything.

*****

Later that afternoon, they made their way back to the house once Tazuna finished with his work for that day. He hadn’t done much on his own. Was this Gato really that horrible that he scared away all the other workers? Why hadn’t they asked for help from Konoha earlier? If Konoha had been really friends with Uzushio, why didn’t they already help the Wave?

And he wasn’t thinking about giving them money or food. He remembered Kakashi saying that friendship between the Hidden Villages hadn’t meant friendship between the countries. But protecting them from the likes of Gato until the country could get better was enough help, wasn’t it? He just… couldn’t understand why people let other people suffer when they could help them instead. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone?

Or was it just him who thought like that?

Making their way through the town was… horrible. Earlier that day nobody was really outside to see what it looked like in the busier hours, and somehow Naruto wished that the streets would still be empty.

The people walking by them looked too thin to be healthy. He didn’t see any smiles on their faces, and their eyes were empty of any emotions. Their cloths were dirty and torn, some too long or too short, and it reminded Naruto of his own cloths before he became a genin.

Then he saw the children.

They looked worse than the adult. They were small and so thin, Naruto could feel the emptiness in their stomachs just by looking at them. An emptiness he had experienced many times before Iruka started to invite him for meals to Ichiraku’s.

Naruto curled up his fingers to tight fists.

“I have to go” he said and started running towards Tazuna’s house, ignoring the man’s questions and Sasuke’s remarks.

If nobody helped then he would. He knew he was too small to help everyone, but even the smallest actions would be a great help for the few.

He entered the house in a hurry and almost tripped when he pulled off his sandals. Running into the room where they were sleeping, he made Shikamaru jump. Surprisingly Kakashi kept on sleeping.

“The hell are you doing?” Shikamaru asked.

Naruto grabbed for his backpack and started digging inside it, taking out his energy bars one by one.

“I’m helping” he said.

Shikamaru frowned at him.

“Who?”

“The children.”

Shikamaru stared at him for a while. He looked at the energy bars in Naruto’s hands, at his own bag, then back at Naruto before he reached out for his own bag and opened it.

“I have a few of those too.”

Naruto felt something warm and bubbly inside him that made him smile so big that he could feel his face stretching almost painfully, but he didn’t care.

“Thank you!” he said.

“Yeah, yeah…” Shikamaru didn’t look at him as he took out the energy bars from his backpack. “Give them this too.” He showed him a bottle. “Some vitamins. It’s not much, but—”

Naruto didn’t let him finish. He jumped next to Shikamaru and gave him a quick hug before he put everything in his pockets. He was out of the door in a second and on his way back to the children he’d seen. He met with Sasuke and Tazuna halfway but he didn’t stop to explain anything.

The children were still there when he got back. They were sitting on an old rug in the shade of a wall, playing some kind of game with sticks and rocks.

“Hey!” he greeted them. He ignored their surprised and suspicious stares as he crouched down and emptied his pockets. “Here.”

There was a silence so long Naruto feared they would run away. Did he scare them? He should’ve said something before he did anything…

One of the children, who seemed to be the oldest of them, looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Food” Naruto told her. “And some vitamins from my friend.”

He could see the light returning the other children’s eyes. He heard a few rumbling stomachs from a few of them.

“Why?” the girl asked, glancing at Naruto’s forehead, probably looking at the leaf symbol. “Why would you give us food?”

Naruto smiled at her.

“Because it’s the right thing to do. Nobody should have an empty stomach. It doesn’t feel good.”

Maybe the way he said it convinced the girl to reach out and open one of the bars. She broke off smaller portions and gave out to the children around her. Some took it with trembling hands, some eyes welled up as they took the first bite. It was amazing to see how just a little food could change their mood.

But really… it shouldn’t have been a thing.

“Thank you” the girl said. “Who are you?”

“My name is Naruto.” He sat down on the rug among the children. “I came from Konoha with my team to protect Tazuna-san.”

The children shared a look.

“Can you really protect him from Gato?” one of the boys asked.

“We will do our best” Naruto said. “You’ll see, that bridge will be built in no time and then everything will be better here!”

“My father said that nothing will change” a girl said. “If Gato is gone, an other bad person will take his place.”

“Not everyone is like Gato” Naruto said, and he really hoped it was true. “There are good people too who want to help.”

“Like you?”

Naruto was quite for a while before he answered.

“Yeah. But I’m just a kid like you. I can’t do much. But there are adults who can help! One of my teachers helped me a lot when I was a kid. Iruka-sensei brought me ramen and he protected me when I was in danger. And I think there are other adults like him who can help you. Like Tazuna-san. He’s building this bridge so you don’t have to give all your money to use Gato’s ships. And with that money you can buy food and cloths.”

The children still seemed a little doubtful, but Naruto could tell that his words gave them hope for a better future.

“Are all the ninjas like you, Naruto?” the oldest girl asked.

“Like me?”

“Friendly.”

Naruto tilted his head.

“Well, most of the ninja I know are friendly, but there are bad ninjas too.” Naruto raised his fist. “But don’t worry! Ninjas like me are here to fight the bad ninjas!”

He stayed for a little while with these children. He told them about Konoha and the places he’d seen so far. Some of the children said they would like to visit Konoha once the bridge was finished.

The sun was almost down when he said goodbye to them. There was a spring in Naruto’s steps and he couldn’t help but smile at everything that had happened. Had Kakashi felt like this when he’d left that backpack in Naruto’s apartment? Did the children feel like the same joy he had felt when he’d found it? Helping and giving felt great in his opinion. More people should do the same.

“I haven’t seen a ninja like you.”

Naruto stopped and turned to his right. A girl stood by one of the houses. She was taller than Naruto, maybe also a few years older than him.

“What kind of ninjas have you seen?” Naruto asked.

“Cruel” she said. “Only seeking violence and glory. Not caring about others in need.”

She took a few steps closer to him.

“You could’ve walked past them and never look back, forgetting completely about them in a few days. But you didn’t.”

Naruto put his hands on his hips, grinning at the girl.

“I know what it’s like to be hungry and alone. And how good it feels when someone helps.”

The girl smiled back at him.

“I know that too. I was like them not so long ago. And I will be forever in debt of the one who helped me. I would do anything to protect him.”

Naruto nodded.

“I would protect them too. Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei, and everyone who’s kind to me.”

The girl put her basket she was holding into her other hand, then turned to leave.

“It was good talking to you, Naruto. I think we will meet again.”

“Yeah! Bye!”

Naruto continued his way back to the house, but his steps faltered for a moment.

He didn’t remember telling the girl his name…

Looking back, the girl was already gone. After a while Naruto shrugged and started walking again. Maybe she’d heard the children calling him by his name.

*****

“Where were you, kid?” Tazuna asked.

Naruto quickly sat down at the table next to Shikamaru.

“I gave some food to the kids!” he said.

Kakashi smiled at his genin behind his mask. If more people were like Naruto, the world would be a better place. His parents would’ve been so proud of him.

“And I told them that you’re a good person, Tazuna-san” Naruto continued. “That you’re building this bridge for them. And they won’t have to give their money to Gato.”

From the corner of his eye Kakashi saw Tazuna pausing before he continued eating again. He clearly didn’t know what to say to all of this.

“I have a few rations in my bag too” Kakashi said. “You can give those to the children too.”

Naruto’s eyes lit up.

“Really?”

Kakashi nodded and from then on Naruto was bouncing in his seat, swinging his legs, and he was going on and on about what else he could do for everyone here. He also started planning out what he would do as a Hokage in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again.

Tazuna stayed silent for most of the meal. He hung down his head but Kakashi still could see the tears he was trying to hold back.

This land was desperately in need of help. Every since the Eddy had been destroyed, ever since the members of the Uzumaki clan had been either killed or chased to foreign lands, the former Land of the Whirlpools was left unprotected. And no matter how much they had fought against it, outside forces quickly took over the once prospering country. And the older people like Tazuna were left only with the memories of the better days in these darker days.

“You’re so stupid!” Inari shouted and stood up so fast from his chair that it fell on the floor. “Nothing will change here! And you know why?! Because people who try to be heroes are the first to die!”

The boy stormed out of the house.

“Inari!” Tsunami called after him and followed him outside.

The silence was filled with a tension that made even Kakashi uncomfortable. Naruto from the door turned to Tazuna with wide eyes.

“I didn’t—”

“It’s okay, boy” Tazuna said. “Inari’s still grieving. He really loved his stepfather.”

Kakashi let out a small sigh.

It was horrible that small children like Inari, children who had nothing to do with the ninja world, had to experience loss at such a young age. He glanced at Sasuke who was staring at his still full plate, at Naruto who now turned back to watch the door, then at Shikamaru who seemed to be deep in his thoughts.

Kakashi wondered what they were thinking about the world now, how much their view on everything had changed in the past month. The world was bigger than Konoha and the Land of Fire, and while they were living in relative peace back at home, the world was filled with conflicts on every corner.

What kind of person would they become after getting to know so many different people and their situations? Where would be the point that they’d decide they had enough with it? Or that they’d try to do something with it? Change it for the better?

He didn’t want to think about any of them choosing to make something worse. All three of them were good kids. All of them had a big heart, no matter that some of them tried to hide it. If anything tried to lure them away from the right path, Kakashi would be there to guide them back. That was his responsibility and duty as their sensei.

“Alright, children.” Kakashi stood up. “Time to go to sleep.”

The genin did what he said without any protests. Soon they were all in their futon, all sleeping, but Kakashi wasn’t so sure their dreams were peaceful.

Kakashi lay down in his futon, staring at the ceiling for a long while. Then he emptied his head, relaxed every muscle of his body starting from his face, and he was asleep within two minute.

He dreamed of a space of blackness and concrete cubes as far as he could see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I really love the beginning of the fic :D I used this spacing technique in one of my older fics and I figured I could use it here too.
> 
> \- Ginger is honestly great for nausea. I, who struggles with motion sickness since she was a kid and never really grew out of it, went to Vienna a few years ago to the Christmas market by bus (!!!) with my colleagues a few years ago and was only getting slightly dizzy because on our way home we got into a traffic jam on the motorway.
> 
> \- Schisandra as a tea is also used for sickness.
> 
> \- There is a military technique to fall asleep within a few minutes. There are some tutorial videos on YouTube.
> 
> \- I decided against bonding Naruto and Inari. I… honestly don’t feel the connection between the two. They don’t share the experience of grief, so even if Naruto could show him compassion, Inari would really need someone who knows exactly how he feels. And that person is not Naruto.
> 
> And a quick update about publishing the new chapter: The new chapter will come out in three weeks. I’m working in two different shifts – one week morning shift, one week afternoon shift, – and somehow I managed to schedule the updates to my afternoon weeks. So I’m moving it to my morning weeks. So the next chapter will come out on 26th October :)
> 
> Stay safe everyone!


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